(Walpole, MA) -- Coming off a hard-fought 4-2 win against the Northern Cyclones on Saturday, the Walpole Express A team hosted the Hartford Jr. Wolf Pack on Tuesday and held a rematch with the Cyclones on Wednesday at Iorio Arena. The schedule was exhausting. "We didn't have much time to relax between the initial game with the Cyclones last week and the Tuesday-Wednesday games," said Coach Tony Dalessio. "Fortunately, the hectic pace worked for our guys and we captured four points for first place in the division."

On Tuesday with Hartford in town, the Express started slowly and found themselves in a scoreless tie after the first 20 minutes. A power play got things going in the second when Georgiy Gurianov tipped in a Matt Harrington shot from the point to give Walpole a 1-0 lead. Lou Malvasi doubled the lead when he beat Wolf Pack goalie Brian Houde short side on a pass from Steve Charest. The score remained 2-0 into the third when the Express would strike for two more tallies. First it was Harrington who snapped off a Cody Armstrong pass from behind the net. Minutes later, again on the power play, Charest one-timed a Gurianov pass in front of the Hartford net to close out the scoring and the game. Zach Andrews recorded his eleventh win of the season with the shutout performance making 23 saves. He has given up only two goals in his last 180 minutes of league play.

“We didn’t come out strong and Hartford battled us hard," Dalessio said. "We had to regroup after the first and inject some energy into the game. Once we started playing we took over and played a solid 40 minutes."

Next up was a rematch with the Cyclones. Things started on the right foot for Walpole as they capitalized on an early power play chance. Armstrong notch his 13th goal of the season with the assists from Harrington and Danny McAuliffe. The period ended with the Express up 1-0. In the second, things turned in the Cyclones favor. Kevin Vanous finished off a 2-on-1 break beating Express goalie Derek Kump to the short side. Still, the Cyclones later took the lead on a power play thanks to a great individual move by AJHL All-Star Tommy Thompson who beat Kump with a high shot to take the lead 2-1.

Walpole got it together toward the end of the second with some strong attempts to beat Cyclones net minder Arnaud Gotschall though the score remained the same. In the third, the teams traded early chances and the Express finally got the equalizer on the power play. Chris Comprosky broke through the Cyclones defender on a great individual move and fed a pass to a blazing Ben Oskroba who deposited into the empty Cyclones net to tie the game at 2.

The score stood through the remainder of regulation and the five-minute overtime with both goalies making point-blank saves and both teams earning a point. With the extra point up for grabs in the shootout, the Express fought hard. Joey Bonacci beat Gotschall five-hole for the point and the win 3-2.

“It’s been a tough six days and our boys have been tested but they battled hard, especially tonight, and found a way to get the win,” said Coach Mark Kumpel. “All six of our games against the 'Clones have been battles; three games have gone into OT. They have a skilled, high-energy team and these games have been some of the best in our league this season.”

The Express will have a much deserved day off on Thursday and will then hit the road Friday when they travel to Laconia, N.H. to take on the Leafs at 7:00 pm. The Express will be in action, along with the rest of the AJHL and MJHL, when they host the annual Presidents' Day joint showcase at Iorio Arena, February 12-15, 2010. The Express will face the Philadelphia Little Flyers, Washington Jr. Nationals and New York Bobcats.