This past weekend the Express had a home and home series with the Surrey Eagles.
Burnaby was hoping to build off their 9-5 win Wednesday night that snapped Burnaby's 6 game losing streak.
Both teams went into the series heading in opposite directions in the month of October. Surrey was 6-1 in October, while the Express had just 1 win in their 7 games in October.
The series started Friday night in Surrey. The first period saw the Express generate a few chances, but it was the Eagles who had plenty of momentum thanks to three powerplays and buzzing all around the Burnaby net. The Eagles however couldn't put any of their 15 first period shots past Harrison May and the teams went to the room scoreless through 20 minutes.
Rich Manley opened the scoring in the opening minute of the 2nd period as Manley took a feed from Jon Puskar and came down the left wing and slid a shot through the legs of Paul Barclay.
And despite the shots in favour of Surrey, the Express had the important first goal of the game.
The Express lead didn't last long as the Eagles tied the game while shorthanded. Mike Krgovich broke in on a 2 on 1 break with Tyler Morley, and Krgovich beat Harrison May with a wrist shot to the stick side.
The Eagles continued to press in the second period, but much like the first had a tough time getting a puck past Harrison May. May's strong goaltending allowed the Express to take the lead late in the 2nd period when Matt Ridley scored his first goal of the season when he jumped in the rush took a feed from Puskar and snapped a shot past Barclay to restore the Express lead.
Ridley's goal was just the 2nd goal of the season from an Express blueliner.
The Express took their lead into the third period and added to it early in the third. Matt Ius put a pass on the tape of Dylan Herold to give the Express a 3-1 lead 1:20 into the third.
Now for the 2nd straight road game, the Express had a 3-1 lead in the third period. But much like last Sunday in Powell River, the lead didn't guarantee the Express victory.
Richard Vanderhoek blasted a shot from the right circle that handcuffed Harrison May just over a minute after Herold's goal to cut the Express lead back down to one.
The Express had their chances to restore their two goal advantage following Vanderhoek's goal with a pair of powerplays, but couldn't come up with a clutch powerplay goal.
Then with the Eagles on a powerplay of their own, they erased the Express lead as Chris Santiago beat Harrison May with a wrist shot over his glove to tie the game at 3 at 8:35.
So for the 2nd straight road game, the Express had allowed a 3-1 lead to slip away.
However, the Express had another opportunity to re-store their lead with a powerplay but again came up firing a blank. Much thanks to the desperation of the Surrey penalty killers getting down and blocking numerous Express shots.
Following the conclusion of the Express third powerplay, the Eagles took the lead for the first time in the game. Surrey sent the puck into the Burnaby zone, and while the puck was sliding down the ice, an Eagle player went to the bench and Andrew Wallace came on the ice and picked up the puck and out waited Harrison May to give Surrey a 4-3 lead.
The goal raised the question of whether or not the Eagles had to many players on the ice. After some discussion from the officiating crew, the goal was allowed to stand.
Now the Express had just under 7 minutes to pull even. 2 minutes of that time was erased moments after Wallace's goal when Luke Challier was sent off for checking to the head and given a game misconduct. The Express did kill off the powerplay. But when the game resumed at 5 on 5, Surrey sat back in a defensive shell not allowing Burnaby to generate much of an attack.
The Eagles then iced the game when Matt Ridley coughed up the puck at his own blueline and the Eagles went the other way and Mike Krgovich scored his 2nd of the game on a feed from Andrew Wallace.
Final score:
Surrey 5 Burnaby 3.
Shots:
Surrey 45
Burnaby 27
Powerplays:
Burnaby 0/6
Surrey 1/7
3 stars:
3. Tyler Morley - 2 assists and was strong on the penalty kill all night for Surrey.
2. Andrew Wallace - Scored game winning goal and set up Krgovich's insurance marker in the third period.
1. Mike Krgovich - 2 goals and 1 assist to lead Surrey's attack en route to victory.
It was the 2nd straight road game for Burnaby where they allowed a 3-1 third period lead to slip away.
Harrison May did allow 5 goals on 45 Eagles shots. But if it were not for his strong play in the opening 40 minutes, the game could have already been decided before the third period had began.
The Express have now lost all 7 road games in the month of October. And are 1-6-0-1 in October.
The rematch for these two teams went 24 hours later at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.
The Express hoped that a return home would reverse their fortunes. The Express went into Saturday's game with a 3-0-0-1 record on home ice.
The first period was better for Burnaby. More time spent in Surrey's end of the rink and getting some chances but couldn't get one past Vinny Lessard.
The best chance the Express had was a breakaway for Garrick Perry, but Lessard shut the door on the struggling Perry as he tried to beat him between the legs. Perry went into Saturday's game without a point in his last 6 games, and without a goal in his last 9 games.
The game was scoreless through 20 minutes with the Express holding a 11-7 shot advantage.
Both Harrison May and Vinny Lessard kept up their strong play in the 2nd period. Most notably Lessard, who had turned aside a number of quality scoring chances to keep the game scoreless.
Finally the ice was broken late in the 2nd period when Tyler Morley blasted a drop pass from Cole Gelly past the glove of Harrison May at 18:09.
Before the period was done, the Express had a chance to pull even with Doug Marshall being called for tripping giving Burnaby a late powerplay.
The Express powerplay looked dangerous. Their best scoring chance came in the dying seconds when they got a puck past Lessard, but the puck curled away from the crease and stayed out of the net.
Surrey took their 1-0 lead to the room after two periods. Mainly due to the strong goaltending of Vinny Lessard who had stopped all 27 Express shots through 2 periods.
And when a goaltender is playing well, he will need a bit of luck on his side, and the puck curling away from his crease could be a little puck luck on the side of Lessard.
Finally the Express broke through and got a puck past Lessard on their 32nd shot of the game. Brad Reid won a faceoff in the Eagles zone. Reid won it back to Matt Ius who had his initial shot blocked, but his 2nd shot beat Lessard upstairs to pull the Express even.
Surrey re-stored their lead midway through the third when Grant Toulmin took advantage of a Burnaby turnover in the neutral zone. Toulmin carried the puck over the Express line and leaned into a wrist shot so much so he fell giving the shot some extra torque to beat Harrison May.
In the final 10 minutes of the game, the Express got some chances to pull even again, but couldn't get another one past Lessard. Then the Eagles clamped down defensively as the third wore on and shut the Express down the rest of the way.
Final score:
Surrey 2 Express 1.
The loss was Burnaby's first regulation loss on home ice this season. Both teams are headed in opposite directions following Surrey's sweep of the Express in the home and home. Surrey had won 8 of their 9 games following the win Saturday. Then after coming from behind again in the third period Sunday and knocking off Trail 6-4, the Eagles are 9-1 in the month of October.
Main reason for the Express falling on this night, Burnaby ran into a hot goaltender. Vinny Lessard was outstanding all night long turning aside many quality Burnaby scoring chances.
Meanwhile, Burnaby has now lost 8 of 9 games in the month of October.
Shots:
Burnaby 35
Surrey 25
Powerplays:
Both Surrey & Burnaby 0/2
My 3 stars,
I didn't agree with the selections of the 3 stars Saturday night,
So here's my selections,
3. Grant Toulmin - Scored the game winning goal midway through the third period.
2. Matt Ius - The only Express player to get a puck past Vinny Lessard.
1. Vinny Lessard - The main reason why Surrey prevailed Saturday night vs. Burnaby. He was great stopping 34 of 35 Express shots. The Eagles don't win on this night without his strong play.
Up next:
A home and home series with the Langley Chiefs. The series begins Thursday in Langley with the Express making their first visit to the brand new Langley Events Centre.
Return match goes Friday at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre.
No comments:
Post a Comment