Caught in their first multi-game losing streak and down a pair of goals in the first period, the Langley Rivermen reeled off six straight goals to end their mini-slide at two games.
The junior A hockey club was in Coquitlam on Wednesday night where they knocked off the Express 6-2 at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre.
As the BCHL nears the quarter-season mark, Langley is tied atop the Mainland Division standings with a record of 9-5-0-0 and 18 points.
The Express scored twice in a 28-second span, which prompted a goalie change in the Rivermen net.
And it didn’t take long for Langley to get back in the game as 18 seconds later, Justin Szeto got the visitors on the board. And 43 seconds after that, Jason O’Neill notched the equalizer.
Langley’s Justin Fregona and Max Kaufman would add goals before intermission to make it 4-2. Cameron Ginnetti scored once in the second period and Fregona rounded things out with a power-play goal in the third, his team-leading 11th goal.
He also has five goals in his past four games.
Kaufman finished with a goal and three assists.
“It was nice to come from behind,” said Rivermen head coach and general manager Bobby Henderson.
“It was tough giving up two goals early, but the guys kept their composure.”
Bo Didur stopped all 24 shots he faced.
The Rivermen were coming off a 3-1 loss the night before in Surrey as the Eagles struck for a pair of third-period goals to break a 1-1 tie.
“We had a little bit of carry over from the night before,” Henderson said about the tough start against Coquitlam and the game against Surrey, where the Rivermen could not take advantage of their chances and were held to a single goal for just the second time in 14 games.
Langley also split a pair of weekend games, beating the Trail Smoke Eaters 5-1 on Friday and dropping a 4-3 decision to the Penticton Vees the next night.
Didur — who was making his first appearance since getting injured Sept. 20 — stopped 44 shots in the win over Trail and then made another 49 saves against Penticton.
Didur leads all BCHL goaltenders with a .950 save percentage and is second with a 1.70 goals against average.
Kaufman had the lone goal against the Eagles, while O’Neill, Adam Sinclair, Fregona and Torrin White each had a goal and an assist against Trail.
In the loss to the Vees, Fregona had two more goals and Ben Butcher had one.
“I am happy so far, we came out of the gate pretty hot,” Henderson said of the season’s first quarter.
“All in all, we have played some real good hockey.”
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The Rivermen host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre. The game is trick or suite night as kids can dress up and trick or treat in the LEC suites at intermission.
