EXPRESS MIXLR BROADCAST

Friday, November 1, 2013

EXPRESS CAN'T TAME BULLDOGS BITE

The Express are still in search of their 2nd win on home ice after falling 6-4 to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Friday night.

Alberni Valley used a fast start to get the jump on the Express and put them on the path to victory.

Their speed and pressure on the puck was very effective and lead to scoring chances and dictate the tempo of the first period.

Mitch Makin's speed cutting into the Express zone allowed him to get a step on an Express defenceman and feed the puck into the blue paint to Harlan Orr who just needed to have his stick on the ice to tip home his 4th goal of the season into a gaping net.

Orr added his second of the game 4 minutes later as he banged home the rebound of a Brodie Clowes point shot for a 2-0 Alberni Valley lead at 14:56.

The Express got one back before the period was done as a deft set up from behind the net by Ryan Rosenthal to Corey Mackin who scored his 12th of the season just over a minute after Orr's second of the period.

The score was 2-1 in favour of Alberni Valley after 1 period. But the shot clock told the real story of the period as to who was by far the better team as the Bulldogs outshot the Express 23-6.

The game kept going the Bulldogs way in the second period. Former Express Justin Georgeson playing in his first game in Coquitlam as a Bulldog opened the frame with a powerplay goal just 26 seconds into the period roofing it over the shoulder of Gordie Defiel from a sharp angle.

Ryan Buse put the visitors up 3 as he fired a shot past a screened Gordie Defiel after a won faceoff in the Express zone.

Hunter Stewart made it a 5-1 game as his wrist shot from the slot was fired past Defiel midway through the period.

It was a complete 180 turnaround in terms of who controlled the play from the first period to the second. The Express fired 21 shots in the frame to just 6 for the Bulldogs. But the 3 goals Alberni Valley put up in the period is all that counts at the end of the night.

The Express continued their control of the game from the start of the second period into the third period.

Goals by Bo Pieper and Joey Santucci cut the Bulldogs lead to 5-3. And the Express fired another 18 shots in the final period, but they couldn't dig themselves out of the 4 goal hole from the first half of the game.  The Express outshot Alberni Valley 39-14 in the final 2 periods, but it still wasn't enough.

Harlan Orr capped off his hat-trick with an empty net goal with just over a minute to play. That was followed by a goal by Jackson Cressey in the final minute to put a close on proceedings.

The Express have now lost 5 straight games and 6 of their last 7. They still have just 1 win on home ice this season. They will try to snap their streak Wednesday night when they host the Surrey Eagles. 

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