With its place in the BC Hockey League playoffs already secured, the Coquitlam Express is now working on gathering momentum for its post-season run.
The Express won its fifth game in a row Saturday, defeating the Victoria Grizzlies 2-1 in Victoria.
The victory follows its 5-3 vanquish of Coastal division leading Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Friday at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.
Against the Grizzlies, a pair of goals by Matthew Campbell in the first period was all Coquitlam needed, as Adam Manji stopped 37 of the 38 shots he faced to lead the Express to its third win of the season over Victoria.
The Grizzlies got to within a goal when Kalen Szeto scored on a power play 49 seconds into the third period, but Manji shut the door after that, making several big saves to win his sixth game of the season.
Friday, the Express spotted Alberni Valley a 2-0 lead in the first period before storming back to take a 3-2 advantage in the second period with the go-ahead goal scored on a penalty shot by Tyler Kopff.
Brandon Buhr got the visitors back on even terms less than 90 seconds later, but Ryan Tattle answered on a power play before the period was over to put Coquitlam ahead for good.
Ray Hamilin added an insurance goal 3:27 into the third period then Express goalie Carter Woodside held the fort by stopping all 13 shots he faced in the final frame.
Tattle added an assist to his goal, and Hamlin and Kopff also had two-point nights to lead Coquitlam’s scoring and send the 1,806 fans that packed Poirier home happy. It was the team’s highest attendance of the season.
The Express finishes its busy weekend playing opponents from Vancouver Island with a game against the Nanaimo Clippers at 2 p.m. this afternoon in Nanaimo.
The game could be warmup for the teams’ potential match-up in the first round of the playoffs. Nanaimo sits in second place in the Coastal division while Coquitlam is secure in its place as the seventh of eight teams from the division headed to the post-season.
The Clippers won the three previous meetings between the teams, most recently defeating the Express 7-0 in Coquitlam last Jan. 2.
Coqutilam closes out its regular season schedule next Saturday (March 26) in Chilliwack with a game against the Chiefs.
