In a playoff matchup that's been close pretty much all the way, except for the fact the Prince George Spruce Kings hold a 3-1 series lead, nobody should be surprised the Express lived to see another day.
Coquitlam made the most of its opportunities in Tuesday's 3-0 victory and was deserving of the win. It needs to find a way to do it again tonight (7 p.m.) when the Express meet the Spruce Kings again at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena in Game 5 of the best-of-seven BCHL Mainland Division semifinal series.
While they failed to get any of their 31 shots behind Coquitlam goalie Clay Stevenson, the Spruce Kings could not be faulted for their effort and all the positive things they orchestrated on the ice in Game 4. Just as they did in the first two games of the series in Prince George, they got stronger as the game grew older. But they didn't have an answer for 19-year-old Express forward Chase Danol, who scored all three goals, including an empty-netter in the final minute.
The 22-point gap between the second-place Spruce Kings and the third-place Express in the regular season standings and the fact Prince George won six of the eight head-to-head games has meant diddly-squat in the playoffs, where everyone is starting with a clean slate. The first game ended up a 3-1 Kings' win. In Game 2, the Kings tied it late and won 3-2 in overtime. Game 3 was a more convincing 5-2 victory for Prince George.
"I thought (Tuesday's) game was very similar to the first two, obviously we couldn't put the puck in the net," said Kings head coach Adam Maglio. "Lots of our Grade-A chances ended up late in the game and being down two goals, we would've liked to have seen those a little bit earlier. We didn't play poor by any means, it's just a tight series.
"There's not a lot of teams that are going to win series in four games. It would have been nice, but at the end of the day we're coming back home leading 3-1 and we get another chance (tonight)."
A crowd of about 1,500 is expected as playoff fever builds for the Spruce Kings and that fan support in the close confines of RMCA has given them an added edge. In a building with a capacity of about 2,100, attendance at the first two games in Prince George was 1,267 for Game 1 and 1,241 for Game 2, as compared with crowds of 571 and 493 for the two games at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre in Coquitlam.
"We're fortunate in Prince George for the fan base we have here, said Maglio. "It's easy to get up for games with the support we have.
"We worked hard to get home ice this year and regardless of what happens we have home-ice (advantage) in this series. We need to understand we're playing a team whose life is on the line here, they don't get another chance so we have to make sure we match that intensity and that's not going to come by easily."
Maglio has been rolling mostly three lines and the forward trio centred by Ben Poisson, with his brother Nicholas on the left side and Chong Min Lee on the right, has proven especially effective. In his last junior season before he moves on to the University of Maine, Ben Poisson is making up for lost time. He got cheated out of the Spruce Kings' playoff run to the league final last year and played just two playoff games while he recovered from a ruptured spleen. Through four games, he leads the Kings in scoring with a goal and four assists.
"Benny is really inspired right now and it might be due to him not participating in the playoffs last year due to injury until the final two games, and Nick and Chong have fed off that for sure" said Maglio. "They play a good heavy, playoff-style game. It's tighter hockey and they understand that and they make their own breaks through being heavy over pucks, forechecking hard and creating lots of turnovers.
"We certainly need some guys to step up in that same capacity and hopefully there's more offence from some other guys."
Special teams play has been pretty much even. Both teams are firing with 25 per cent efficiency on the power play. The Kings are 3-for-12, while Coquitlam is 4-for-16. Playing 16 times shorthanded is uncharacteristically high for Prince George, the least-penalized team in the regular season.
"There has been more penalties, that's been the biggest adjustment for us," said Maglio. "We just have to make sure we focus on our game and understand we're going have to kill some penalties and we'll also be on the power play too."
If Game 6 is needed it would be played Saturday in Coquitlam. Game 7, if necessary, is scheduled for Monday night at RMCA.
