The Coquitlam Express have clinched home ice advantage for the first round of the BC Hockey League playoffs.
But who they’ll face is still to be determined.
The Express defeated the Cowichan Valley Capitals 6-1 Friday at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex, while the fifth-place Victoria Grizzlies were shut out 4-0 by the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
The results leave Coquitlam three points ahead of the Grizzlies in the Coastal division standings. Each team has one game remaining in the regular season schedule. If that order stands, the two teams will face each other in the post-season’s first round.
But Victoria could still slip to sixth place if it loses its final game Sunday against the Coastal division’s top team, the Nanaimo Clippers, and Chilliwack wins its remaining games against Cowichan Valley tonight and the Langley Rivermen on Sunday.
That would set up a rematch of last year’s first-round showdown between the Express and the Chiefs that was won by Chilliwack in seven games.
Friday against the Capitals, Coquitlam scored three times in the first period and three times in the third to secure its third win in a row.
Tyler Kopff, Evan Brown and Blake Setter each scored a goal and an assist for the home team while only Cowichan Valley’s Kai Dunits was able to beat Express goalie Brady Smith in the 32 shots he faced.
The Express closes out its regular season Sunday when the Powell River Kings visit Poirier at 3 p.m.
