October 24, 2020 – Express explode with 9 in Friday night hockey at East End Arena (season suspended due to COVID pandemic)
The St. Boniface Riels made the short trek over to East End for a Friday night MMJHL battle with the Railer Express. The match up was between the last two undefeated teams in the MMJHL.
The game started slow with both teams unable to register a shot on goal in the first five minutes. Riels opened up the scoring, but the Railer Express less than a minute later, evened it up with Evan Chudley getting his 3rd of the season. The first period would end in a 2-2 deadlock as Mattie Boonstra would close out the scoring in the first, notching his league leading 6th goal of the season.
That would be it for any offense from the Riels. The Express came out in the second period and rallied for five straight tallies. Boonstra opened up the scoring with his 2nd of the night and 7th of the season followed by Conner Grunston with his 4th of the season, Chudley also tapped in his 4th of the season and Riley Johnson rounded out the scoring with two, for his 2nd and 3rd of the season.
The third period saw little life from the Riels, but there was a flurry of chances that goaltender Dylan Arnold had to be sharp and make some quality saves. The third also saw both Boonstra and Chudley finish off their hat tricks. Boonstra notched his league leading 8th and Chudley with his 5th of the season.
Arnold finished the game with facing 41 shots and making 39 saves, to improve his record to 3-0.
Express next two regular scheduled games are on the road with the next home game - Sunday, November 1st at 2 pm when the Raiders visit East End.
October 23, 2020 – Powers steady and Grunsten ready
The Hawks came to Transcona for a rematch after falling to the Express last week at home. An early PP for Charleswood allowed them to jump into a 1-0 lead that carried late into the second period.
Teams traded chances, in an intense and physical game couple periods. Powers controlled rebounds and stopped everything he could see then with 3 minutes left in the 2nd Conner Grunsten started to take things into his hands. He scored on a set up from Matsumoto then with less than a minute in the period found Campbell at the point who through a shot to the Hawks net that Johnson redirected to put us up 2-1 after 2.
A few minutes into the 3rd the Hawks came up with the puck from a scramble around our net, circled the net and snuck the puck by Powers to even the score. The battle continued through the 3rd, when Delorme jumped on a loose puck and carried up the ice and found Grunsten in the offensive zone who found a wide open Boonstra who made no mistake and buried the chance to put the Express ahead and for the game winner. Conner finished with a goal and 2 helpers.
Next match is Oct 23 at East End against the Riels.
October 16, 2020 – Arnold Slams the Door while Boonstra Finishes
Express on the road for their 2nd of 3 this week saw a hungry St. Vital come out eager to put the guest away early except someone forgot to tell Dylan Arnold. The Express net minder made numerous point blank save early and continued to stifle the opposition for the majority of the period. Matsumoto and Boonstra with his first of the night gave the Express a 2 up lead before the home team finally solved Arnold late in the period.
A quick response early by the hosts before the Express PP continued to produce with Grunsten and Boonstra both scoring to give the visitors a lead going into the third.
A strong 3rd period saw a few firsts for the Express. Boonstra potted his 3rd of the night for the hatty, Grunsten buried a giveaway for his 2nd of the evening and rookie Conrad Solypa scores his 1st as an Express
Next game - home opener Sunday October 18 2pm at East End Arena.
2020-21 Season Opener - October 13
A number of new faces on the ice for both teams saw a scrappy first period with the Express coming out ahead. Rookie Chudley went bar down to open the scoring with his first of the season and first as a Railer Express. Kotchon finished off the scoring in the first with a PP marker while Arnold was solid between the pipes and was the difference on the PK.
Boonstra found the top shelf on another PP in the 2nd and the PK stayed perfect to put the Express up 3-0 after 2.
The Hawks scored a quick PP goal to open the 3rd then again on a screened shot to claw back into the game, not willing to leave without a good fight. Solid PK in last 5 minutes of the game, then Chudley netted his 2nd of the game into an empty net and Funk tallied another giving the Express our 1st W in the season opener.
Next game: October 15, 7:30 pm, EXPRESS vs Vics, St. Vital Arena
#GoExpressGo
