The pre-game Remembrance Day Ceremony was impressive as well as respectful honoring those who gave of their lives for us to have the freedom we have today and all of the 749 attending were touched by the event.
Surrey wasted no time getting the game off on the right foot as Stewart was against the boards on the right side and managed to kick the puck to the point setting up Babichuk who hammered one on target.
Express “tender’ Brock Hamm he was partially screened by Lester on the initial shot that bounced off the blocker going out to the stick of Danol who buried it behind Hamm giving the Eagles the early lead a short 54 second in giving him his 4th of the season.
As if one wasn’t enough they continued to pressure the “D” of the Express with Burgart wheeling in front of the penalty box sending a cross-ice pass to Babichuk who was speeding in on the left side going deep to the goal line who sas an open Wesley on the right side.
Wesley wasted no time cutting around one defender then to the middle sending a bullet over stick of Hamm giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead 1:48 into the first getting his 18th of the season with assists going to Babichuk and Burgart.
Try as they might the Express were kept off the scoresheet for the remainder of the period that saw Express “tender” Brock Hamm face 10 shots, while Nic Tallarico faced 7 through 20 minutes.
The second saw the Eagles continue the onslaught, but only after they allowed Linell to get the Express on the board an early 1:30 in.
Keeping with the game plan the Eagles pressed and had the puck behind the net that saw Wesley deliver a huge hit to which Greg named it the “Oh Baby” hit.
This allowed Westgard to jump on the puck in turn slipping it forward to Wesley who slipped out front hammer one past a surprised Brock Hamm at 3:04 of the period.
Not only was this the second goal of the game and 19th of the season for Wesley, the assist to Westgard keeps his streak alive with 26 assists.
The second ended with not only the Eagles leading by a score of 3-1 they were leading in the shot department by a 27-16 margin.
The third started with the Express riding the wave of momentum hammering numerous shots at Tallarico who made key stops keeping them off the board.
Probably the most sensational stop came when Kozlowski dangled to the ringette line and wired one that was clearly labeled , but Tallarico was up to the task on this night.
The Express managed to get one past Tallarico at the 15:35 mark making it a 3-2 game getting the game within reach if penalties weren’t part of the equation, but they were and never helped the game plan for the Express.
The Express continued to press, but were unable to capitalize on any chances they had or were given and coughed up the puck on a poor clearing play with under a minute to go.
The poor clearing play be the Express was blocked at the blue line on the left side and with a heads-up play he fed “Mr. Excitement” Johnny Wesley who hammered his third of the game (20th of the season) and the goal that sealed the win 4-2 for the Eagles.
While the game was chippy at times, it wasn’t necessarily a dirty game that saw Express “tender’ Brock Hamm was peppered with 43 shots, while Tallarico faced only 32.
The same two teams face-off the following night in Coquitlam at the rink on Porier to see who can skate away with two points.
Neither team were able to capitalize on the special teams with the Express going 0-7 and the Eagles going 0-8 in the special teams department.
FORTISBC ENERGY PLAYER OF THE GAME
JEFF STEWART (1 Assist)
Game Stars:
1st John Wesley (3 Goals)
2nd Brock Hamm (42 Shots Against/39 Saves)
3rd Desi Burgart (2 Assists)
The Eagles next home game is Sunday November 12th at the South Surrey Arena at 4 pm.
This game will once again be followed by a “Skate with the Players” after the game.
