Rivermen Keep Rolling
The Langley Rivermen were in Coquitlam on Friday night to take on the Express in a first place showdown in the Mainland division. Both the Express and the Riv came into tonight’s game riding multiple game win streaks. This was the third meeting of the two teams as both clubs had won on the others home ice, and both teams were coming off a perfect three for three weekend.
Coquitlam would get off to a fast start, out shooting the Rivermen 12-3 in the early minutes of the game. Steve Myland got the nod from Bobby Henderson in goal tonight as it had been Brock Crossthwaite between the pipes for the last two starts. The decision turned out to be the right one as Myland was absolutely brilliant in the opening period making a number of sensational saves.
The Riv would get on the board first on the power play. Austin Azurdia continued his stellar play tapping home a beautiful feed from Viktor Dombroskiy at the 4:52 mark, on a cross ice pass to the backdoor. Gordie Defiel who got the start in goal for the Express had no chance on the play as Azurdia had a wide open net to slide it home for his seventh goal of the season.
That would be it for scoring in the first period as the Riv took a 1-0 lead to the locker room.
Similar to the first period, Coquitlam would score the only goal of the middle frame, and it too came on the man advantage. Matthew Berry-Lamontagna would slap a puck towards the goal and Bo Pieper would get a stick on it to deflect it home past Myland.
Fourteen penalties were handed out in the second period between the teams as the intensity and physical play started to ramp up. Both teams received misconducts including the Rivermen bench. Head coach Bobby Henderson was ejected from the game at the 9:33 mark. Both teams also had full two minute five on three power plays. Neither team would be able to score as period two would end 1-1.
The Rivermen would kill off a penalty to start the third and then the offence came to life. Jakob Reichert who was exceptional on the evening made a slick drop pass to Nathan Craft who wasted no time snapping a low shot pass Defiel. Kevan killistoff who was the overtime hero the last time these two teams played, would cash in to make it 3-1 Rivermen pouncing on a loose puck in front of the goal.
Some back and forth play and a late flurry from the Express would be as close as it would get. Langley wins their fifth straight game by as score of 3-1. Both penalty kill units were big in this one as Langley went 1 for 8 and Coquitlam 1 for 7 on the man advantage. The Riv would also hold the big three in check for the Express, Rockwood, Mackin, and Rosenthal all went pointless on the evening.
Both goaltenders factored into the three stars and deservingly so. Your third star Gordie Defiel, second, Jakob Reichert and your first star stopping 31 of 32 shots, Steve Myland.
The Langley Rivermen look to make it six in a row versus the Surrey Eagles on Saturday night. Puck drops at the Langley Events Centre at 7:15pm.
If you can’t make it to the game, the Langley Rivermen have you covered.
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