The Port Coquitlam Trailblazers needed to find some offence and tighten up on defence if the team hoped to extend its best-of-seven Pacific Junior Hockey League playoff series against the Delta Ice Hawks.
Sunday at the Port Coquitlam Community Centre, it achieved neither in a 7-1 loss, ending the team’s season.
The Ice Hawks, which finished 16 points ahead of the Trailblazers in the regular season, outscored Port Coquitlam 21-3 in the final three games of the series after losing two of the first three games.
Neither team scored in the first period of Sunday’s game, and the margin was still close heading into the third with Delta up 2-1.
That’s when the wheels fell off for the home team as the Ice Hawks scored four times in the first 3:43 and then added another with less than five minutes left in the game to advance to the Tom Shaw Conference final against the Richmond Sockeyes, which defeated the White Rock Whalers 4-2 in their series.
Markus Jack scored the only goal for the Trailblazers, his ninth goal in eight playoff games, while Keiran Caughran faced 47 shots in Port Coquitlam’s net. His teammates fired 40 shots at Delta goalie Merik Erickson.
Coquitlam Express split weekend games
The Coquitlam Express squandered a golden opportunity to move up the BC Hockey League’s Coastal Conference standings over the weekend when it split a pair of games against rival teams just ahead.
After defeating the fourth-place Cowichan Valley Capitals 4-3 on Saturday, the fifth-place Express lost 7-4 to the Surrey Eagles Sunday at the South Surrey Arena.
The results leave Coquitlam one point behind the Capitals and two back of the third-place Eagles.
In Surrey, goals by Andrej Kovacevic, Mason Kesserling and James Shannon gave the visitors a 3-2 advantage after the first period.
But the home team seized control of the game with three unanswered goals in the second period, then outscored the Express 2-1 in the third.
Shannon added a pair of assists to his goal to lead all Coquitlam scorers, while Kovacevic scored twice. Andrew Ness made 31 saves in the Express net.
Coquitlam plays the conference-leading Chilliwack Chiefs in a home-and-home series this coming weekend, beginning Friday at 7 p.m. at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex. The teams play each other again Saturday, 6 p.m. in Chilliwack.
Coquitlam has won four of its previous five games against the Chiefs this season.
📣 Got an opinion on this story or any others in the Tri-Cities? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected].
📲 Want to stay updated on Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
💬 Words missing in an article? Your adblocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.
