Coquitlam begin their second contest of the BCHL Showcase in Nisku, Alberta, after losing a hard fought battle to the Cranbrook Bucks 2-1 in their first showing.
The Express battled valiantly, but couldn’t get back into the game after starting 1-0 and giving up two unanswered. Special teams struggled, with the power play going 0/3 and not getting many shots on goal.
Tonight the Express face a new opponent in the Trail Smoke Eaters. Trail technically sit last in their division, but only because of fierce competition and less games played. The physical, deep roster will present a new challenge for Coquitlam.
There’s no doubt that Trail don’t have the same star power as Coquitlam, with their top scorer (Roberts Polis) having 7 points, compared to Coquitlam’s top scorer (Chase Valliant) having 14 points. However they have 4 lines that can score, and have outshot their opponent in all 8 games played thus far this season.
The Smoke Eaters are one of the only teams in the BCHL with a worse penalty kill percentage than Coquitlam, and perhaps this will be the chance that the Express power play has needed to get going.
The lineup for Coquitlam remains unchanged from yesterday’s showing against the Cranbrook Bucks.
This game has big standings implications, as if Coquitlam win in any fashion, they will fall asleep tonight tied for first place in the Coastal East division. As for Trail, if they claim victory they will jump from last place in the division to third place, so both teams have lots to play for.
Puck drop is at 2:45pm MDT / 1:45pm PST, tune in on FloHockey with broadcaster Zach Clarke!
