The Express played a solid 60 minutes of hockey yesterday evening to earn victory number three on the early season, however the job this weekend is only half done. Game two of the doubleheader goes tonight at 6PM PST and Coquitlam has to be ready for a big pushback from Prince George.
The Spruce Kings weren’t able to defend home ice for their home opener but that does not take away the pride they hold in playing at Kopar Memorial. This should be a renewed Spruce Kings side tonight that comes out flying with energy and purpose. That will easily be step one for the Express, manage the early game onslaught from PG. If the puck management and timing on defensive challenges carries over to the game today there shouldn’t be any issues in that department. The breakups on the blueline disrupted the Spruce Kings’ flow on multiple occasions and made it extremely difficult for the home side to build rhythm.
Coquitlam have had some big success offensively early on this season but perhaps the most impressive has been the special teams. The third hottest powerplay unit in the league belongs to your Express at a 40% conversion rate. The ability to move the puck around the offensive zone to the desired spots has yielded several key goals including three last night. Case in point Coquitlam spent the better part of their final powerplay in the offensive zone exclusively. Unfortunately they didn’t capitalize for their fourth of the contest but the amount of dangerous chances will be present tonight if the Spruce Kings don’t come up with a counter.
Adaptability will again be huge in game two of the doubleheader. The Spruce Kings will need to come back from the drawing board with new looks if they hope to send Coquitlam home with the loss. On the flip side, the Express need to keep up their commitment to the work ethic and defence regardless of what is thrown their way. As the wins continue to come they cannot be satisfied, cannot let the foot off the gas and cannot stray from their identity.
You can catch all the action live on FloHockey just before 6PM PST on the away feed!
– Ian Wilson
