For the first time this series, a team has won back-to-back games. Another grit and grind low-scoring affair came to a close and the Coquitlam Express stood victorious at the other end.
A 3-2 series lead is in their possession coming home to the Train Station tonight and they got it done through a mire of adversity. The main facet being Coquitlam started the night with six defenders, and by the final whistle only had four.
There are wins, and then there are character wins. The Express dug deep last night and banded together to nab a 2-1 victory over the Bulldogs. Shots came at a premium and much of the contest was spent in the neutral zone battling for possession or in transition between the offence and defence thanks to well-oiled counterattacks for both teams.
The heart of Hockey Valley was beating strong at the opening onset as the fans for the Bulldogs were deafening to try and will their team on. Alberni channelled that energy into a good early game. Coquitlam felt the pressure and responded with a goal to quell the raucous home crowd.
Heading to the netfront and mixing it up is always a recipe for good things to happen and tonight the Express doubled down in that regard. The opening marker at 10:05 of the first period goes to Noah Dziver as Winnipeg’s finest notched his second goal of the series. Sam Frandina crashed the crease and was able to knock the puck free off a rebound right before Callum Tung could get his glove on it to cover up. Dziver had his stick down on the ice and poked it past the pad of the Alberni netminder.
Dziver has been exceptional since his return to the lineup to start the playoffs. He is second amongst the team with five points including two goals, one which was shorthanded in Game 3. His ability to drive the goal and create on the rush while also being a decent faceoff taker has helped out several parts of Coquitlam’s game.
The second period gave all the Express supporters a test of their blood pressures. The AED was on standby, figuratively, when not one, but two defencemen for Coquitlam went down to injury. Michael Adamek and Sam Frandina’s departures changed the composition of the game and the Bulldogs could feel the momentum swinging. At first the Express rotated Nate Crema into the D-core and he contributed well but it still wasn’t quite what they needed.
Alberni took advantage of the shift in momentum and got a weird one at 13:48 of the second period. Hayden Stavroff took a shot from the near wing and Adam Manji made the save. Brady McIsaac then chipped the rebound back towards the goal and the puck squeaked through Manji to the back post where Stavroff had curled in behind the net and was waiting to tap the puck over the line.
The Express survived the onslaught of pressure from the Bulldogs and the stage was set for a frantic finish in the third.
Coquitlam made the change in the final frame to go with simply the four guys on the blueline that remained. They paired Michael Rubin with Patrick Reilley and Luke Vardy with Oliver Gabrielson. Those two pairings worked their tails off for the entire period and got the job done. It isn’t often the blueline end of the bench gets that short for any team so to have the level of fitness required to keep battling and keep up the decision making through the fatigue is unreal. There were some rushes near the end where you could see the Bulldogs were fresher and started to try and really test the Express defence but they couldn’t break through.
The hero on the offensive side of the equation was Joseph Odyniec. His first career BCHL playoff goal came at the ultimate time with just under five minutes to go in the third. Luke Vardy took a shot cutting down the right wing and the puck bounced around in the paint after a tip by Odyniec. The Washington DC product stuck with it and all of a sudden Callum Tung lifted his leg up while laying on his back thinking the puck had popped out in front. The puck was underneath it so the now exposed biscuit was all Odyniec’s to send home.
Alberni would pull the goalie to bring the extra attacker out but Coquitlam stood their ground. The forwards and D got down to block shots in front of Manji and the Burnaby Brick Wall kept up his end of the bargain.
It remains to be seen if any of the defencemen Coquitlam lost between games 4 and 5 will come back for Game 6 on home ice but regardless of the crew that’s fielded, they have proven they can answer the call.
The Express are already home and making preparations to welcome the Bulldogs tonight at 7pm.
FORTIS BC ENERGY PLAYER – Matt Kursonis
MARINER BREWING 3 STARS
3rd – COQ – Cole Melady
2nd – AVB – Callum Tung – 22 Saves on 24 Shots
1st – COQ – Adam Manji – 23 Saves on 24 Shots
– Ian Wilson
