It was a tough way to end the season for the Coquitlam Express.
The squad fell in Game 4 of its best-of-seven playoff series against the Chilliwack Chiefs, a round that saw the team come within striking distance of winning twice with overtime finishes, but unable to muster a victory.
Wednesday night was not even close.
Chilliwack came out looking to put the series away in front of 749 fans at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex, with Chiefs’ forward Ryan Bechtel, Jake Smith and Kale Kane each scoring to put the team ahead 3-0 before the first intermission. A goal from Austin McIlmurray got Coquitlam on the board, but Chilliwack quickly repsonded with goals from Mark Esposito and Ryan Forbes, taking the 5-1 lead to the final buzzer.
The game was a feisty affair and both teams were clearly getting tired of each other.
Chilliwack and Coquitlam squared off in the in the last two games of the regular season, making Wednesday night’s meeting the six game in a row for these two squads.
But the Chiefs were not as dominant in previous matches as they were Wednesday night.
Twenty-four hours earlier the Express came within a whisper of bagging their first win of the year against the Fraser Valley opponents, when strong defensive play forced the game into overtime.
Two goals from McIlmurray and a single from Cameron Bertsch kept the game close and strong play from netminder Lawson Fenton, who turned away 41 of the 45 shots he faced, helped Coquitlam hang on.
However, any hope of the Express taking a win in Game 3 were dashed when Chilliwack’s Austin Adam potted a pass from Jordan Kawaguchi to finish up the game. Coquitlam struggled on the road in the first two games of the series as well, with Game 2 on Saturday particularly problematic.
In that match, the Express only mustered one goal — a Mitch Newsome marker assisted by Colton Kerfoot — while Chilliwack padded its playoff statistics with nine unanswered tallies.
The series got off to a promising start for Coquitlam Friday night at Prospera Place.
Express forward Luca Leone opened the scoring in the game, but Chilliwack quickly tied and then took the lead with a pair of goals from Kawaguchi.
However, McIlmurray was able to tie things up midway through the third when he took a pass from Kerfoot and put the puck behind Chiefs’ goalie Aidan Pelino.
But the Express could not find the go-ahead marker in Game 1, with Chilliwack’s Ryan Forbes eventually scoring the game winner in overtime.
The Chiefs will now wait to see who comes out of the other BCHL Mainland Division playoff series between Langley and Wenatchee, while Coquitlam will clean out their lockers and start looking to next year.
