Venue: Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex
Game Time: Friday February 24th @ 7:00pm
The Prince George Spruce Kings (24-25-4-2) biggest problem tonight will be to avoid underestimating the Coquitlam Express (11-43-1-2). The Interior leading Penticton Vees may have done that last night against the Surrey Eagles who are 2nd last in the league, and they wound up falling 4-3 in overtime.
Prince George had a hot start to their roadtrip last weekend going down 2-0 to the Chilliwack Chiefs, but came back to beat them 3-2 in double overtime. It was the first win in Chilliwack against the Chiefs in nearly three years. The excitement didn’t carry over to the next night though as they were shutout 4-0 by the Langley Rivermen. The Spruce Kings are still looking for their first roadtrip sweep of two games or more since September 27th-29th of 2013.
Standings wise, the game doesn’t affect either of the two teams, but with 1500 tickets pre-purchased the Express are expecting their largest crowd of the year. The season high for Coquitlam this year in terms of attendance is 1463.
Coquitlam is coming off their first shutout of the season, thanks to a 35 save effort by Reid Cooper against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Sunday afternoon. Christian Bosa (2) and Blake Hayward were the goal scorers for the home side.
Tonight is the sixth game of the month for Coquitlam, with the previous three all being played at home. Prince George is playing their ninth, with all but one on the road. They still have two games to go this roadtrip as well.
BROADCAST LINKS
WATCH on HockeyTV
LISTEN on Mixlr
STANDINGS:
Tonight marks the final game of the season for the Coquitlam Express, and there’s no where to go. With a win they would still be 13 points behind the Surrey Eagles for 2nd last in the league. A year of ravaging injuries has hampered the Express side, and it will be interesting to see how they rebuild for next season. The team is generally built with one “Mega-line” with a top forward trio that ranks among the best in the league. This year due to injury their top scoring player was Luca Leone who has 36 points heading in against Prince George. He is currently tied for 71st in league scoring.
Prince George can’t go anywhere in the standings tonight, but can build momentum on a roadtrip that only gets tougher. They’ll play the Langley Rivermen tomorrow night in a rematch of last week’s 4-0 defeat in the George Preston Arena, and finish off in Chilliwack to take on the high flying Chiefs with Jordan Kawaguchi looking to break the franchise all-time record in points.
WHO TO WATCH:
PRINCE GEORGE:
Parker Colley – FWD: His goal against Chilliwack last weekend ended a 15 game goal drought for the Spruce King forward, and most importantly kicked started a comeback in the 3-2 OT win over Chilliwack. While he has just three more point than he did last year, his goal scoring has jumped from four goals last season, to 12 in 2016/17. He’s dangerous on the rush from the wings, and has four of his goals this season against Coquitlam.
Tavin Grant – G: Tonight will mark the first game Tavin Grant has played in since February 2nd. He shutout the Eagles on 22 shots for his second BCHL goose egg. He was playing some of his best hockey before he went down, and the Spruce Kings will need him to rekindle that with playoffs starting next week.
COQUITLAM:
Reid Cooper – G: Both Express goalies have struggled against Prince George this season with Cooper allowing 16 goals in 159:28 (nearly eight periods) while Lawson Fenton has surrendered 14 in 150:00. Cooper is coming off one of his best starts of the season where on 35 shots he collected his first BCHL shutout against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. He’s been a busy man this year, having just two games where he’s seen fewer than 30 shots in a game.
Sam Kozlowski – FWD: With the biggest crowd of the season expected tonight, the Coquitlam Express will want to go out with a bang. Speedy RIT commit Kozlowski is one of the players most likely to get fans off their feet as he leads Express players in goals against Prince George with three this season. He has 11 on the season which is a tad surprising considering his speed and skill. He’s locked to stay in Coquitlam again next season, so look for him to be one the “Big Three” as mentioned earlier.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
Spruce Kings @ Langley Rivermen – Saturday February 25th, 6pm – George Preston Arena
Spruce Kings @ Chilliwack Chiefs – Sunday February 26th, 5pm – Prospera Centre
PLAYOFFS
Game 1: Saturday March 4th @ 7:05pm – Town Toyota Center, Wenatchee
Game 2: Sunday March 5th @ 5:05pm – Town Toyota Center, Wenatchee
Game 3: Tuesday March 7th @ 7pm – Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, Prince George
Game 4: Wednesday March 8th @ 7pm – Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, Prince George
