Coquitlam Express swapped a 4-3 loss to the Chiefs last Thursday in Langley with a 4-3 win Friday at the Sports Centre over the same squad.
Mark Bergert's powerplay goal five minutes into the third period gave the Express the much-needed win, snapping a three-game B.C. Hockey League losing slide and keeping them within striking distance of a playoff spot.
With 10 regular-season games to go and games in hand on every other Coastal Conference squad entering this week, the Express moved to 18-22-1-9 in seventh spot in the eight-team division. The third-place Chiefs dipped to 27-20-1-7.
The next four Express games are at home, starting tonight (Wednesday) when they face the Surrey Eagles at the Sports Centre, 7 p.m.
Coquitlam then meets the conference-leading Powell River Kings on Friday before hosting the Victoria Grizzlies and the Chiefs on Saturday and next Tuesday, respectively.
On Friday, other Express marksmen were Coquitlam product Michael Krgovich, Alex Petan and Destry Straight, who added a pair of assists.
On Thursday, two Krgovich tallies weren't quite enough as the Express were edged at Langley Events Centre.
Krgovich staked the Express to a 1-0 lead 7:30 into the game but the Chiefs rallied to fire in the game's next three goals to take a 3-1 cushion into period three. There, Jason Grecia and Krgovich struck for back-to-back tallies two minutes apart to even the score, only to watch the Chiefs' Mike Tebutt net the game winner with 42 ticks to go.
Langley out-shot Coquitlam 43-26, with Express goalie Khaleed Devji turning in an outstanding 39-save performance to garner third-star status.
Justin Georgeson assisted on all three goals for the Express.
