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Saturday, February 9, 2013

HAPPY HOCKEY DAY IN CANADA FOR EXPRESS

On a day dedicate to celebrate what the game of hockey means to Canadians all across the country, the Express celebrated the occasion with a 3-2 come from behind overtime win over the Mainland division leading Surrey Eagles.

Adam Rockwood scored his second overtime winner of the season to give the Express the win in the 2nd overtime.


The Express were short manned dressing just 9 forwards for a second straight Saturday.

The Eagles opened the scoring as former Express Brady Shaw hit the 30 goal plateau for a second straight season snapping a shot home from the slot. The goal pulled Shaw into a tie with Langley's Mario Puskarich for the BCHL lead in goals.

Surrey edged the Express in shots 9-7 in the first period and took their one goal lead to the middle frame.

The Eagles picked up their game a notch in the second period. They opened up to a 6-0 advantage in shots in the period. Thanks in part to a 5 on 3 powerplay. But the Express penalty killers which had a strong game killed off the penalties. The Express finished a perfect 6 for 6 on the PK Saturday night.

The Express got a brief 5 on 3 of their own late in the period. And as the first of the two penalties expired, the puck came to Colton Mackie as he exited the penalty box and carried it into the Express zone and wired a shot past Cole Huggins to the stick side to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. It was the third shorthanded goal in the last two games for the Eagles who scored a pair in their win Friday night vs. Prince George.

The Express entered the third period trailing by two, but knew if they got one, they were in good shape to try and mount a come back. They got the goal they were hoping for four and a half minutes into the period as Malcom McKinney blasted a slap shot over the shoulder of 17 year old Scott Lapp. The goal for McKinney was just his 4th goal of the season.

44 seconds later the Express completed the comeback. Adam Rossignol took a pass in the slot and wired home a one timer to tie the game at two.

The game remained tied after 60 minutes.

Some key defensive plays highlighted the overtime for the Express before the game was decided. Brad Ryan made two seperate great plays to take scoring chances away from Brady Shaw. Malcom McKinney also made a great play on the backcheck to re-direct a pass wide of the net intended for Jordan Klimek.

The Express completed the come back as Marc Biega deep in the Surrey zone on a wraparound attempt sent the puck across to Adam Rockwood who scored his second overtime winner of the season.

The win improved the Express to 6-0-1 in overtime this season. It was also the first win for the Express this season when trailing after 40 minutes. Prior to Saturday the Express were 0-25 when trailing after two periods this season.

With the win combined with Langley's 5-0 loss to Merritt, the Express are 5 points back of the Eagles for 4th place in the Mainland division.

Up next the Express host Phil Zielonka and the Chilliwack Chiefs on Family day at 2pm on Monday afternoon. 

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