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Afternoon anything but a delight as Express lose third straight

The Prince George Spruce Kings scored three unanswered goals in the second period and added another in the third to hand the Coquitlam Express its third straight defeat, 4-3, Wednesday afternoon at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.

The Prince George Spruce Kings scored three unanswered goals in the second period and added another in the third to hand the Coquitlam Express its third straight defeat, 4-3, Wednesday afternoon at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex.

The loss was also Coquitlam’s second straight at home after winning its first 23 games there. On Sunday the Express fell to the Cowichan Valley Capitals, 2-1.

Coquitlam seemed ready to resume its winning ways that have propelled the team to the top of the BC Hockey League standings when Will Margel and Joshua Wildauer scored in the first period to give the Express a 2-0 advantage.

But goals by Mason Reeves, Nolan Welsh and Nick Bochen in the middle frame put the visitors in front. Another by Corey Cunningham 5:47 into the third period increased the Spruce Kings’ advantage to 4-2.

Cunningham’s goal also chased Joe Howe from Coquitlam’s net as he was replaced by Clay Stevenson.

Wildauer got the Express back to within a goal when he scored his second of the game with 35 seconds remaining in the third period and Stevenson on Coquitlam’s bench for an extra attacker.

Wednesday's game, that started at noon, was played before a boisterous crowd of more than 1,200 young people from various elementary schools around School District 43. It was the second such promotion by the team this season.

The Express will try to put a stop to its January swoon on Friday, when it hosts the Chilliwack Chiefs, 7 p.m., at Poirier.