(Photo Courtesy: Garrett James, BCHL Photographer)
CHILLIWACK — You didn’t have to look far down on the stat sheet to understand the struggles of the Prince George Spruce Kings as the Coquitlam Express handed them a 5-1 loss in their opening game at the BCHL Showcase in Chilliwack.
After the first 20 minutes of play, the Express put 17 shots on Jordan Fairlie with three of them finding the back of the net. The loss marked Fairlie’s first of the season after a perfect initial six starts to the season, however, the 20-year-old was pulled with Aidan Feddema coming in for relief.
In the first period, Mirko Buttazzoni opened the scoring just 61 seconds into the game.
Past the midway mark of the period, Mateo Dixon made it a two-goal lead with Buttazoni earning himself an assist alongside Gavin Giesbrecht.
The opening period scoring was concluded inside the final minute of play with Bobby Landry scoring his first of the BCHL season with 16 seconds remaining on the clock. Emmett McHardy was the helper on the play as the Express took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
In the second period, the change in goal didn’t solve anything for the Spruce Kings as their offensive woes continued. After only mustering five shots on net in the first, Prince George followed it up with six in the second period.
While their defence improved, giving up seven shots on net in the middle frame after coughing up 17 in the first, the Express still managed to find the back of the net twice during the period.
Jason Galluci scored 3:49 into the period with assists coming from Tyler Kopff and Jake Manfre. Then, at 9:28, Giesbrecht scored his fifth of the season with Coco Armstrong assisting on the play. Buttazzoni tallied his third point of the night as he registered an assist on the play as well.
In the third period, the Spruce Kings were able to find the back of the net and shake the goose egg byway of Jake Schneider on the powerplay. The American forward scored his fourth of the season with Ben LeFranc and John Herrington earning the helpers.
Brady Smith had a slow start to his night between the pipes for Coquitlam with the low shot numbers from PG, however, the Spruce Kings upped the shots in the final period and Smith finished the night having stopped 21 of the 22 shots fired his way.
Prince George will be back in action for their final game of the Showcase Thursday afternoon against the undefeated Surrey Eagles (7-0).
Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 PM.
