Feb 27 – The Chilliwack Chiefs set up a first round matchup with the Express with a 5-2 win over the Express in the final regular season home game for the Express. There wasn't much for either team to play for entering the game. The Express had an outside chance to move up to third place with wins in the final two regular season games vs. Chilliwack and a pair of Spruce Kings regulation losses. But that didn't happen. Chilliwack had first place sewn up in the Mainland division. T
The Express had a chance to help get Brett Supinski his 50th goal and 100th point as he entered the game with 47 goals and 97 points. Knowing these teams would likely meet in the first round at puck drop neither team really wanted to tip their hand much for what we may see come game 1 on Tuesday.
The Express got off to a fast start by opening up an early 8-1 advantage in shots in the first 8 minutes but Aidan Pelino kept the Express at bay. Then Chilliwack began to find their game and instantly it seemed the flood gates opened. Jordan Kawaguchi on a wraparound scored his 28th of the season to get Chilliwack going. The goal pulled him into a tie for the team lead in goals with Craig Puffer. 90 seconds later it was Brandon Potomak extending the lead as his backhand from the right wing hit Braden Krogfoss went up in the air and had just enough to cross the goal line for a 2-0 lead. Potomak was one of the more dangerous Chiefs all night using his speed.
1:52 after that it was 3-0 as Jake Hand scored the prettiest goal of the night as he was able to dance around an Express defenceman and score. Hand wasn't done there as he added his second of the period 3:30 later on the power play as his wrist shot from the left circle found the back of the net. The shot may have hit some of the traffic in front of the Express net. When all was said and done it was a 4-0 Chiefs first period lead in a span of 6:52.
For as much it was a tough first period for Braden Krogfoss, he deserves recognition for shutting the door in the final two periods to give his team a chance to try and claw back into the game. He's had a very strong finish to the season allowing Head Coach Barry Wolff to split his goaltending duties pretty equally in the final month or so to make sure starter Chris Tai is fresh after a pretty heavy workload after first coming to the Express from the AJHL.
The second period the Express did their best looking to try and claw into the deficit. It was clear in the first few shifts there was a concerted effort to help set up Brett Supinski to help him pull closer to the milestones he's trying to achieve. His best chance came in the second as he cut to the net and just slid the puck past the far post. The top line was unable to hit the scoresheet Friday night.
Taylor Green got the Express on the board as Daniell Lange and Colton Kerfoot teamed up to set up Green who scored his 4th of the season with a wrist shot over the glove of Pelino.
The line of Michael Merulla, Owen Stout and Brendan Gulka has been providing a nice touch of secondary scoring to the Express attack recently. The latter two teamed up to set up Daniell Lange three minutes into the third period to cut the deficit to two. The assists extended point streaks to five games for both Stout and Gulka with two goals and four assist each in that time.
With plenty of time left on the clock I at least had the thought that there was plenty of time left for the big guns to do their thing and take over the game to help mount an Express comeback. It wasn't meant to be as Pelino shut the door the rest of the way to finish with 29 saves to post the win.
Jake Larson was credited with an empty net goal after the final horn had sounded but it was just one final detail in the Chiefs victory. The regular season comes to an end Saturday night in Chilliwack with one final head to head meeting before the teams do it with bigger stakes at hand in the first round. Get ready folks the Express and Chiefs are going to get very familiar with one another with possibly up to 9 consecutive meetings on the horizon. This is the first playoff meeting between the teams since 2007 when the Express and Chiefs met in the playoffs in the first six seasons of the Express existence with the Express based in Coquitlam and Burnaby. And the Chiefs residing in Chilliwack and Langley. The Chiefs won the first four meetings from 02-05 with the latter three being decided in 7 games. The Express took the last two playoff match ups between the two teams winning in 5 games in 2006 and in the 7th game in overtime the next year. Those historical facts don't mean a thing to the players or coaches especially when the puck drops Tuesday. It only gives me something to talk about.
Feb 28 – If you felt like you had experienced a deja vu by about 7:30pm Saturday you were probably right.
The Express for a second straight game saw Chilliwack score 4 first period goals in less than 10 minutes to open up a 4-0 lead. This time finishing with a 6-1 win over the Express to conclude the regular season.
Friday Chilliwack scored four goals in a 6:52 span and had a 4-0 lead by the 16:04 mark.
They didn't waste as much time Saturday getting a four goal bulge on the Express.
In the opening minute Tipper Higgins found himself with room in the slot and he let a wrist shot fly that beat Chris Tai just :43 seconds in.
33 seconds later the Chiefs struck again as a Jake Hand dump in hit a stanchion in the corner to the left of Tai and bounced in front of a vacated net as Chris Tai went out awaiting the pucks arrival which never came and Scott Davidson buried the puck into the open net.
In a pair of games where both teams were looking for things they can learn going into the playoff series between the two teams that begins Tuesday, Chris Tai can learn that the net he will guard for the first and third periods has a stanchion at the zamboni entrance that could make pucks do funny things on dump ins.
5:02 later it was 3-0 Chilliwack as Rory Bell beat Chris Tai with a wrist shot from the left wing. Craig Puffer got the fourth Chilliwack goal of the opening frame as his wrist shot from the slot hit a body on the way to the net and trickled past Chris Tai. Certainly two of the goals to get past Tai were tough bounces.
Saturday Chilliwack got four goals on 14 shots in a span of 9:41.
When the playoffs begin Tuesday, the mental part of the game is key to any teams success. And the ability to have a short memory and forget things that don't go right and finding a way to re-focus is key. Well Saturday night we were given a great example of Chris Tai's ability to let by gones be by gones and focus on the next task.
The Express net minder would finish the night seeing a personal season high 56 shots and what he did in the 43 minutes and 38 seconds between goals 4 and 5 of the night for Chilliwack was remarkable.
As he was getting peppered with puck after puck and facing 36 shots between goals and some high quality Chiefs chances, Tai shut the door and was as good as I've ever seen him this season. He kept the game from reaching double digits with some of the saves he made. And to come up with a performance like that after the start he endured tells you a lot about his character.
Certainly the Express will need to play much better in front of Tai starting Tuesday. If that happens and Tai is on like was after his rough start for the whole game the Express have a chance in this series.
Chilliwack's fast start on the other hand in the last two outings shows their ability to be ready to play and the Express must make sure they're ready to match it.
Chilliwack rounded out the scoring on a Peter Forsberg like one handed goal by Jake Hand to make it 5-1 on the Chiefs 51st shot. I don't think that goal will be on a postage stamp anytime soon. Tai very much might have had a chance on that goal to make another great save if he was 5'11 instead of 5'9 as he stretched out to try make the save. The final goal for the Chiefs was a Ryan Bowen wrist shot that hit an Express defender and found the twine.
Brett Supinski scored the lone Express goal in the final minute of the second period finishing off a give and go with Corey Mackin. Supinski finishes the season with 48 goals and 98 points. Mackin completes his BCHL scoring championship season with 50 goals and 104 points which puts him in a tie with Tyler McNeely for the second most points in a season by an Express player.
The Express know they weren't at their best in these final two games of the regular season. They know the intensity level goes up a few notches starting Tuesday.
When the Express have been at their best in the final 6 weeks or so of the season they've been able to spread their offense around pretty equally around the lineup. That will need to come to the forefront again starting Tuesday.
Chilliwack's balanced attack is one area of note I've looked closely at in advance of this series. It showed itself in these two games by scoring 11 goals and only Jake Hand scored more than once with three goals. Eight other players scored goals for Chilliwack in the final two games.
Now the time has arrived to be willing to sacrifice for the guy sitting next to you in that dressing room. Be committed as the Express open the playoffs Tuesday embarking on that journey again which can be a magical ride as the Express look to keep the Fred Page Cup in Coquitlam for another spring and summer.
