Lucas Vanroyboys was in the right place at the right time.
He deflected a power-play point shot from Max Coyle into the net 18:16 into overtime to give the Prince George Spruce Kings a 3-2 victory and a 2-0 series lead over the Coquitlam Express Saturday at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.
It was the 12th shot of overtime for the Kings and it came with Express defenceman Troy Robillard off for tripping winger Ben Brar to negate a breakaway chance.
“Max made a nice shot through a couple of screens there and it just happened to hit me and go in,” said Vanroboys, 19, a native of Thamesville, Ont. “You could really tell they were tired, which is the style we play and we were able to take advantage of that towards the end and really put it to them.
“Now we have a chance to keep the momentum going and keep them on their heels. They knew the desperate situation there were in so they came out flying. Every game’s a do-or-die game from here on out, basically and they really pushed it to us but we were able to bend not break and had a good outcome.”
The Express scored with four minutes left in the third period for a 2-1 lead. Just when it looked like the series would be shifting to Coquitlam with the teams tied at one win apiece, the Kings connected on the power play. That goal came with just 1:33 left in the period, eight seconds into a slashing penalty handed to Express forward Ty Westgard. Dylan Anhorn took the puck at the left point and spotted Brar standing off to the side and fired a shot that hit Brar’s stick and deflected high into the net behind goalie Kolby Matthews, sending the game into overtime
It was the second time in the third period the Kings wiggled off the hook. Trailing 1-0, they caught a break just past the halfway mark of the period when Chong Min Lee took a weak shot at the net and the puck ticked off the stick of Express forward Danny Pearson and slid slowly through the legs of a surprised Matthews.
Right after Lee made his Korean family proud, scoring his first career BCHL playoff goal, the Express went ahead again with only four minutes left in the third period. Anhorn had trouble controlling a bouncing puck deep in the Kings’ end and Joshua Wildauer scored his second goal of the game. He took a chop at the loose puck and sent a high shot that sailed through a screen in front of goalie Logan Neaton.
“We played hard and especially in overtime we worked way harder than them and we just out-competed them,” said Lee, who played the right side on a line with the Poisson brothers. “We got lots of chances in the first 10 of overtime but just couldn’t bury one and we got that one on the power play.
“My goal was kind of lucky but I’ll take it.”
Just as the Kings did in their 3-1 Game 1 victory Friday, the Express took advantage of an early power-play chance to open the scoring. A tripping penalty to Brar had just expired when Dallas Farrell got the puck in the circle and sent a hard pass over to Wildauer just off the left post, and he stopped the puck with his skate then fired it into the net for his first of two goals, just 2:39 into the game.
Coquitlam played the box well in the defensive zone in front of goalie Matthews, drawing his first start of the playoffs, which limited the Spruce Kings to mostly perimeter or long-range shots in the early going.
Kings head coach Adam Maglio didn’t like what he saw out of his team until the third period. Coquitlam was deserving of its lead and had the better opportunities through 40 minutes but there was no doubt the Kings found their skating legs in the late stages and they outshot the Express 12-4 in overtime.
“We showed up in the third and showed up in OT but I wasn’t thrilled with our execution through the first two, we were just missing a couple details - it’s never (a lack of) work ethic with this group,” said Maglio. “I give our guys a ton of credit to come back twice like that and win in OT. OT was our hockey and we need to play like that all the time. It shouldn’t take that desperation to get there but we’re still learning in the playoffs.”
Seeing the tying goal and winning goal each scored while his team was killing a penalty did not sit well with Express head coach Jason Fortier.
“I’m not here to get fined but I think we all can assume there needs to be better consistency in how things get done,” said Fortier. “I do feel we should be up or at least even (in the series). It’s a tight game, they have a good team and I’m sure it’s been good hockey to watch, but we still have to execute and put the puck in the net. We carried the last five minutes of the game up until that (third period) power play.”
The best-of-seven BCHL Mainland Division semifinal series resumes with the next two games Monday and Tuesday in Coquitlam. If Game 5 is needed that would be played Thursday in Prince George, with Game 6 scheduled for Saturday in Coquitlam and Game 7, if needed, in Prince George the following Monday.
“We know nothing’s going to come easy against that squad, they went to the final (last season) and had a lot of guys return and they’re a really good team, coached really well, and I respect the heck out of the way they play,” said Fortier. “They just have an affinity to work hard and when it’s such a tight game and the margin of error is so minimal, when there is a mistake or something that’s out of your control you just have to keep working and not get down and hopefully our guys can bounce back.”
BCHL playoffs
Mainland Division semifinal
Prince George Spruce Kings vs. Coquitlam Express
(Spruce Kings lead best–of-seven series 1-0)
Saturday’s BCHL playoff summary
Express 2 at Spruce Kings 3 (OT)
First Period
1. Coquitlam, Wildauer 1 (Farrell, Danol) 2:39
Penalties –Brar PG (tripping) 0:38, Coq bench, too many men., served by Farrell, 12;34, Vanroboys PG (unsportsmanlike conduct) 19:40.
Second Period
No scoring.
Penalties – Sanda Coq (high-sticking) 2:25, Watson-Brawn PG (tripping) 15:55.
Third Period
2. Prince George, Lee 1, 10:02
3. Coquitlam, Wildauer 2 (DiPaulo, Kimens) 15:58
4. Prince George, Brar 1 (Anhorn, Manz) 18:27 (pp)
Penalties – Walton Coq (high-sticking) 12:34, Westgard Coq (slashing) 18:19, Kimens Coq (cross-checking), Watson-Brawn PG (roughing) 19:10.
Overtime
5. Prince George, Vanroboys 1 (Coyle, Ahac) 1816 (pp)
Penalties – Schulting Coq (fighting, game misconduct), Watson-Brawn PG (fighting, game misconduct) 10:25, Robillard Coq (tripping) 17:15.
Shots on goal by
Coquitlam 7 9 9 4 -29
Prince George7 10 10 12 -39
Goal – Coquitlam, Matthews (L,0-1); Prince George, Neaton (W,2-0).
Power plays – Coq: 03; PG: 2-5.
Referees – Matt Hicketts, Nick Panter; Linesmen – Anthony Mallett, Ryley Balsam.
Attendance – 1,241.
Scratches – Coquitlam: D Kabir Gill (healthy), F Connor Gregga (upper body); Prince George: F Nick Wilson (healthy), F Craig MacDonald (healthy), D Jason Chu (healthy).
