By Roger Knox
Black Press
The Coquitlam Express will have to regroup and figure out a way to get their third-round playoff series back on track after dropping the opener to Vernon on Sunday.
For the Express, it was not only their first game of the round-robin, but their first in eight days since eliminating the Langley Rivermen.
It took them six minutes to get their first shot on goal.
"We try not to use excuses but I think the layoff did hurt us," said Express assistant coach Rob Boyd, a former Vernon Minor Hockey rep coach. "It's not the same practising everyday. The first period wasn't even our same team. We played a little better in the second and I think it'll come."
Boyd said his team has to grasp the importance of this round-robin format.
"It's easy to say every game is a game seven in the room, but I don't know from the players' standpoint if they grasp that urgency." he said. "It's not like a game six or game seven and you're facing elimination, your back's against the wall and you have to win. This is a different format and there's not that sense or urgency, and we're playing a team we only saw twice during the year so there's no real rivalry to fire you up."
Express goalie Gordie Defiel finished with 24 saves while Vernon's Austin Smith made 29 stops as both teams had 30 shots on goal.
Vernon went 1-3 on the powerplay, while the Express were 0-3 with the man advantage.
The Vipers put themselves in a comfortable position with their victory Sunday, ignited in the first period by a powerplay marker at 11:46 from Liam Coughlin, who buried a rebound after Express goalie Gordy Defiel made a save on a point shot from Jared Wilson.
The game-winner would come exactly seven minutes later, courtesy of Defiel of all-people, who inadvertently misplayed a Dylan Chanter dump-in into his own net. Chanter got credit for the goal.
"It was very important for us to get off to a good start," said Coughlin, the game's first star. "We didn't have a good start in Victoria, so it was definitely key to get on these guys early as they hadn't played yet."
After a scoreless middle frame, the Express cut the lead in half just 46 seconds into the third period when Bo Pieper picked up a Brendan Lamont rebound in the slot and buried a backhand over Vipers goalie Austin Smith's glove for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Vernon defenceman Riley Guenther re-established the two-goal cushion with a shot from the point past a screened Defiel at 6:22.
In the last half of the game, it was all Vernon. Michael McNicholas finished off a three-on-one, taking a great pass from Dexter Dancs and beating Defiel at 13:25.
Sparrow banged in a rebound at 19:11 with Dancs finishing the scoring at 19:50 as he took a pass from Coughlin and put it past Defiel.
"I thought we started the game well, the second period was a bit sloppy, but we pulled away in the third," said Williamson. "The guys made some plays. Anytime you get a win at this time of the year you have to relish it and be proud of it."
The Express were expected to take on the Victoria Grizzlies at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex on Tuesday night after The Tri-City News' deadline. For up-to-date information go to www.coquitlamexpress.ca.
