The Coquitlam Express were shunted from the BC Hockey League playoffs after a 2-1 loss to the Penticton Vees Wednesday at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.
The defending league champions eliminated the wild-card qualifiers in four straight games.
But after a 7-2 loss in Tuesday’s third game of the series, the Express didn’t go meekly, thanks to outstanding goaltending by Clay Stevenson, who stopped 57 of the 59 shots he faced.
Stevenson, who had relieved his battery mate Brock Hamm the previous two games, responded to his first start of the playoffs with several big saves among the 22 shots fired at him by the Vees in the first period.
Pentiction’s Owen Sillinger finally broke through 1:22 into the second period, but exactly three minutes later Joshua Wildauer got Coquitlam back on even terms when he deflected Jonathan Sheardown’s shot past Vees’ goalie Adam Scheel.
That’s the way it stayed through the second period and almost eight minutes into the third. The Vees’ Taylor Ward broke the deadlock when he converted a pass from Massimo Rizzo on a transition out of their own end after a shot by Sheardown was blocked by the defence.
Penticton will move on to play the Trail Smoke Eaters in the next round of the playoffs.
