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Express sweep Montana teams with three straight wins

November 5, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Owatonna Express News Release


HELENA, MT - Two thousand miles, 22 goals, 6 points, and three straight victories. Those are the totals - along with innumerable bumps and bruises - the Southern Minnesota Express racked up on their six-day trip through Montana, a clean sweep that ended with a 6-5 decision Saturday night over the Helena Bighorns. Saturday's win followed the inverse path of Friday's 5-4 decision. Instead of starting slow and finishing strong as was the case Friday, the Express started strong, built up a 6-2 lead, and then hung on for the victory. Joel Gaulrapp had three goals and James Gaulrapp recorded three assists for the Express. Jesse Junkermeir (shorthanded), Josh Carlson, and Sean Murphy had the other Express goals. Nick Hopper made 38 saves for the win, by far his busiest outing since joining the team two weeks ago.

"We started the game much better tonight. We played with much more urgency," said Express Coach Pat Cullen. "What really hurt us was that goal late in the second period. We left the period up 6-3 but it should have been 6-2. They had momentum going into the third period. We kind of sat back and they threw everything at us. You know, Helena plays pretty well at home and it turned into a real nail-biter."

Nevertheless, the Express won for the sixth time in their last seven games, improving their season record to 9-7-1. At 19 points, Southern Minnesota is within one victory of North Iowa for third place in the NAHL Central Division although the Outlaws have completed four more games. The division race has tightened considerably since Fargo-Moorhead has come back to earth from its 10-0-0 start with just two wins in the last six games. The Minnesota Blizzard took over first place Saturday with 25 points, Fargo-Moorhead has 24, North Iowa is at 21, and the Express have 19. Bismarck, which knocked off Fargo-Moorhead on Saturday, is in last place with 14 points. "We're absolutely thrilled," Cullen said of the three-game trip. "Gosh, if you can come home from a long road trip like this with three wins you have to be happy. Our guys are really starting to learn our system and how we play. They get the concept we're trying to drive home."

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