Dallas Farrell’s second goal of the game, in overtime, gave the Coquitlam Express a 6-5 win over the Surrey Eagles in a special midweek afternoon BC Hockey League game, Wednesday at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.
Farrell connected 2:33 into the extra period after he was initially denied by Eagles goalie Cale Dolan. Alex DiPaolo and Pito Walton assisted on the game-winner. It was Coquitlam’s second win in extra time in a row, and their fourth victory in the last five games.
The Express scored the only goal in the first period when Connor Gregga converted a setup from Jordan Schulting and Joshua Wildauer 7:40 after the opening faceoff in front of a boisterous crowd of enthusiastic school kids enjoying a break from the books.
Surrey tied it up early in the second period, then took the lead 2:18 in.
Former Eagle Ty Westgard tied it with a power play goal as Surrey’s Jake Toor served a hooking penalty. Two minutes later, the home team regained the lead when Jared Power blasted a laser past Dolan.
Farrell then provided a bit of a cushion with a shot off the crossbar and in for his first goal of the game that also extended his point streak to five games.
But with a second left on the clock, Toor beat Coquitlam keeper Clay Stevenson with a shot that bounced weirdly to pull the Eagles a goal back.
Toor then tied it again less than a minute after the break. It was his third goal of the game.
Regan Kimens got the lead back again for the Express with his 15th goal of the season just after Surrey’s Brayden Shaw stepped back onto the ice after serving a cross-checking penalty.
But Coquitlam couldn’t hold the advantage as Corey Clifton got the Eagles back on even terms with less than three minutes to play in regulation time.
Stevenson stopped 24 of the 29 shots he faced in the Express net, while his teammates fired 49 shots at Dolan.
The win puts the Express nine points ahead of the fourth-place Langley Rivermen in the BCHL’s Mainland Division. But Langley has a game in hand. The top two team in the division — Chilliwack Chiefs and Prince George Spruce Kings — have already clinched spots in the playoffs.
Coquitlam closes out its six-game homestand Friday at 7 p.m., against the Rivermen. The team then hits the road for four games to close out its January schedule.
