The Express’ shorthanded unit made the difference on the score sheet one route to a 6-3 win over the Prince George Spruce Kings in Game 4 of Mainland Division Semifinals on Saturday night. Coquitlam now owns a 3-1 lead in the Best-of-Seven series which shifts back to Prince George for Game 5 tonight.
Saturday night was the breakout game that Express fans were expecting from Captain, Ryan Rosenthal. His 34 regular season goals led the team, despite missing 8 regular season games. He got the home team on the board first, at 4:12 of the 1st Period. Cody Boyd and “Rosey” were killing off an Express tripping penalty when Boyd scooped up a loose puck and drove into the Spruce Kings zone down the right side. He fired the puck toward the net and bounced off a driving Rosenthal and into the net.
Prince George was able to tie the game less than 3 minutes later when Justin Rai snuck in behind the Express defense and beat Gordie Defiel with a wrist shot on the breakaway.
As they’ve done all series long, the Express went back to work, motivated to get the next goal. It would come at 13:48 while the Express worked the puck around the opposition’s zone before Corey Mackin found a perched Zach Hodder for a one-timer from the top of the faceoff dot left of PG goalie, Alex Murray.
Early in the 2nd Period, the Spruce Kings found themselves on the man advantage once again. With the team pushing for the tie, their defence found themselves a little to deep and Rosenthal used his great speed and power to create some separation from the pursuit. Once again, he beat Murray shorthanded, extending the Express lead to two.
As they were able to do in the 1st, PG answered quickly, with a goal from Jeremiah Leudtke on the same powerplay.
The remainder of the 1st Period was back and forth, as both teams pressed for the next goal. Persistence by Leudtke paid off. He was initially stopped by Defiel, before gaining possession of his rebound from the corner and worked his way up the boards to the right of the net. Justin Rai creeped in front of the net as the Express scrambled and Leudtke hit him with a pass for his 2nd goal of the night.
It seemed that the Spruce Kings had harnessed the momentum. With 6 seconds remaining in the period, a faceoff in the Prince George end led to Joey Santucci gaining possession in the corner to the right of Murray’s net. With 1 second left, he threw the puck to the net where Jace Hennig cut in to deflect the puck to the back of the net. Just like that it was 4-3 for the Express heading into the 3rd.
Knowing that a 3-1 series lead was a much more advantageous position than 2-2 heading back to Prince George, the Express bought in to Coach Wolff’s team defense, allowing only 3 shots on goal in the 3rd Period. Santucci would tally a “back-breaking” goal half-way through the period. Spruce Kings miscommunication behind the net resulted the puck on his stick with Alex Murray facing the goal judge. He fired it home, totally deflating the Prince George bench.
Rosenthal tallied his 3rd of the game into the empty net to seal the 6-3 victory.
Game 5 goes tonight, March 10th in Prince George. Fans can check it out online at www.fasthockey.com. If necessary, the Express will return to the Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex on Tuesday, March 11th for Game 6. Puck drop will be at 7:00pm.
Saturday night was the breakout game that Express fans were expecting from Captain, Ryan Rosenthal. His 34 regular season goals led the team, despite missing 8 regular season games. He got the home team on the board first, at 4:12 of the 1st Period. Cody Boyd and “Rosey” were killing off an Express tripping penalty when Boyd scooped up a loose puck and drove into the Spruce Kings zone down the right side. He fired the puck toward the net and bounced off a driving Rosenthal and into the net.
Prince George was able to tie the game less than 3 minutes later when Justin Rai snuck in behind the Express defense and beat Gordie Defiel with a wrist shot on the breakaway.
As they’ve done all series long, the Express went back to work, motivated to get the next goal. It would come at 13:48 while the Express worked the puck around the opposition’s zone before Corey Mackin found a perched Zach Hodder for a one-timer from the top of the faceoff dot left of PG goalie, Alex Murray.
Early in the 2nd Period, the Spruce Kings found themselves on the man advantage once again. With the team pushing for the tie, their defence found themselves a little to deep and Rosenthal used his great speed and power to create some separation from the pursuit. Once again, he beat Murray shorthanded, extending the Express lead to two.
As they were able to do in the 1st, PG answered quickly, with a goal from Jeremiah Leudtke on the same powerplay.
The remainder of the 1st Period was back and forth, as both teams pressed for the next goal. Persistence by Leudtke paid off. He was initially stopped by Defiel, before gaining possession of his rebound from the corner and worked his way up the boards to the right of the net. Justin Rai creeped in front of the net as the Express scrambled and Leudtke hit him with a pass for his 2nd goal of the night.
It seemed that the Spruce Kings had harnessed the momentum. With 6 seconds remaining in the period, a faceoff in the Prince George end led to Joey Santucci gaining possession in the corner to the right of Murray’s net. With 1 second left, he threw the puck to the net where Jace Hennig cut in to deflect the puck to the back of the net. Just like that it was 4-3 for the Express heading into the 3rd.
Knowing that a 3-1 series lead was a much more advantageous position than 2-2 heading back to Prince George, the Express bought in to Coach Wolff’s team defense, allowing only 3 shots on goal in the 3rd Period. Santucci would tally a “back-breaking” goal half-way through the period. Spruce Kings miscommunication behind the net resulted the puck on his stick with Alex Murray facing the goal judge. He fired it home, totally deflating the Prince George bench.
Rosenthal tallied his 3rd of the game into the empty net to seal the 6-3 victory.
Game 5 goes tonight, March 10th in Prince George. Fans can check it out online at www.fasthockey.com. If necessary, the Express will return to the Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex on Tuesday, March 11th for Game 6. Puck drop will be at 7:00pm.
