Coming off of a loss at home last night to the Surrey Eagles, the Coquitlam Express are on the road looking for a better fate as they visit the Chilliwack Chiefs. Puck drop is at 7:15pm.
The Express went into last night’s game 4-1 in their last five outings, playing the best stretch of hockey that they’ve put together all season. The story last night was penalties – the Express gave the Eagles seven powerplay opportunities, some of which were at pivotal points in the contest as they tried to mount a comeback.
On the other side of the rink, the Chiefs are also playing some of their best hockey. The home team is 3-1 in their last four games, posting two shutouts and outscoring their opponents 22-5 in the process. What is perhaps most striking about this Chiefs hockey team isn’t their stacked offensive group, but rather the fact that they’ve only been scored on 39 times this season, good enough for the second-fewest in the BCHL. Notably, they’ve only surrendered 12 goals at home. Additionally, the Chiefs have the best special teams department in the league as their powerplay (32.7%) and penalty kill (88.1%) are both second in the BCHL and first in the Coastal Conference. With all of that being said, it’s important to note that the Chiefs have also played the fewest games in the BCHL (13), so their stats might be slightly inflated in comparison to their competitors who have played upwards of six more games than them.
For the Express, their success has stemmed from great 5-on-5 play, strong goaltending, and offensive depth. The recent emergences of Jayden Sison and Christian MacDougall have done wonders for the Express in terms of offensive distribution. Sison has tallied four goals and three helpers in his last five games and MacDougall has chipped in three goals and two assists in just his last two games.
The Chilliwack Coliseum is a very tough building to play in and the Chiefs make it all that much more difficult. The Express need to play a very disciplined and defensively structured hockey game against this Chief’s team – they can run the score up in a hurry and have the stats to prove it as they’ve scored five-or-more goals in 7/13 games. Additionally, they’ve won by at least three goals in 6/7 of their wins.
#AllAboard | #WeAreAllExpress
