Riley Mcintosh played the hero for the Express wiring a slap shot past Wyatt Galley late in a 1st overtime powerplay for the Express.
It was a true chess match of a game that saw Jon Calvano and Harvey Smyl go head to head all night matching lines.
The Express were disciplined all night long making smart changes to get Perry, Krgovich and Grecica on the ice against Josh Meyers, Trevor Gerling and Brandon Thompson. It was fun to watch both teams make the changes on the faceoff or on the fly to get the right personnel on the ice all game.
Massimo Lamacchia opened the scoring for the Express diving into the goal crease and poke the puck in after Destry Straight centered it into the blue paint.
Langley quickly tied it just under 2 minutes later when Kit Sitterly took a pass in the high slot and ripped a wrist shot over the shoulder of Khaleed Devji.
Then came a key turning sequence for the Express when they were called for back to back penalties, and the penalty killers came up large killing off both penalties to keep the game tied.
The two penalties to Cameron Lawson and Matt Mazzarolo were the only two penalties the Express took in a very disciplined game.
In the dying seconds of the first period with the Express on the powerplay, they re-stored their lead with Mark Begert took a pass pinching in back door and snapped home his second goal of the season.
Dillon Scholten tied the game in the second period moments after an Express powerplay ended when his slap shot got past a screened Khaleed Devji.
Late in the period, Wyatt Galley coughed up the puck when he tried to clear it and seconds later the puck was in his net. Destry Straight's shot hit the post but Jason Grecica was there to clean up the greasy rebound to put the Express back in front.
The goal for Grecica was his first in 7 games. He had just 1 assist in his last 6 outings.
So the Express entered the third period with a one goal lead. The final frame was going much like the first two for the Express limiting the quality scoring chances for the Chiefs.
Langley got a lucky break with under 5 minutes left when Trevor Gerling cut in on the left wing and put it on net and it bounced off the skate of Josh Meyers going to the net and slowly slid in before Matt Hutchinson could sweep the puck out of danger.
Before regulation was done Meyers had a chance to put the game away for the Chiefs when he split the Express defence but Devji kept the puck out to keep the game tied at 3.
And that's the way it stood through 60 minutes. Then came the dreaded overtime for the Express who entered the extra session with a overtime record of 0-9-1 this season.
It was a conservative start to overtime for both teams for the first two minutes. The Express got their chance to end it when Trace Strahle tripped up Destry Straight giving the Express an overtime powerplay.
In the dying seconds the Express finally got that elusive first overtime win when Straight capped off a big night by playing the puck back to Riley Mcintosh who wired a shot past Galley.
Click to here to listen to Mcintosh's OT winner.
The Express finished 3 for 6 on the powerplay.
The assist for Straight capped off a 4 assist night for the Express rookie. He now has 5 goals and 11 assists for 16 points in his last 10 games.
Massimo Lamacchia had 1 goal and 2 assists. He has piled up 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points in his last 3 games. And 8 goals and 9 assists for 17 points in his last 11 games.
The Express now have a week off and will return home for one game next Wednesday vs. Nanaimo. Then they will head back on the road for games in Penticton, Vernon, Trail and Langley.
Cowichan Valley knocked off Victoria 7-3 and remain 2 points up on the Express for the 7th and final playoff spot with 16 games remaining.
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