The penalty killing has struggled all season, but there have not been too many nights where it cost the Express a win. On this night the struggles caught up with the Express.
Entering Saturday night's game, the Express PK was ranked 14th in the BCHL clicking a measly 68.75%.
That number took a big hit as Langley went 3 for 6 with the advantage.
The Express powerplay came into the game on a roll entering the match up ranked 2nd in the BCHL at 31.58%. That number got even better when you look at the Express home powerplay percentage which was 1st overall at 38.89%.
Langley completely shut down the Express powerplay killing off all 5 of their man power situations.
The game was a hard fought battle for the full 60 minutes. Coquitlam opened the scoring on Garrick Perry's re-direction of a Matt Mazzarolo point shot. The goal capped off a fast start for Coquitlam which jumped out to a 8-0 shot on goal advantage.
Langley replied 3 minutes later on their first shot with Mason Blacklock scoring his first goal of the season at 9:44.
The tie didn't last long however, just 34 seconds later the Express re-stored their lead as Jason Grecica jammed home his 3rd goal of the season to re-store the Express lead.
From there the game started to turn in Langley's favour. Penalties plagued the Express for the 2nd half of the first period.
Coquitlam was called for 3 straight penalties in the 2nd half of the opening period. Langley struck on their first advantage with Josh Meyers wiring a shot past Luke Hernandez to tie the game at 2.
The Express did kill off the 2nd and 3rd penalties they were assessed to end the 1st period and the teams were locked at 2 through 20 minutes.
Langley carried the play to open the second period. Working the Express defence in their own zone.
But that's not to say the Express didn't have their chances. Brad Reid had 3 glorious chances in the middle frame but couldn't get any of them past Chiefs goaltender Wyatt Galley.
Langley broke the deadlock late in the 2nd period when former Express Matt Ius tipped a Tim Daly point shot to give the Chiefs a 3-2 lead with a powerplay goal.
Midway through the third Langley struck for their third powerplay goal of the game when Brad McBride fired a shot through the legs of Hernandez for the insurance marker.
That goal meant the end of the night for Hernandez after allowing 4 goals on 24 shots. But it didn't mean the Express were about to give up. They pressed in the final 10 minutes, but couldn't get another puck past Galley.
Langley's win maintained their hold of first place in the Coastal Conference. Coquitlam meanwhile suffered their first home ice loss in 4 games this season.
The Express will now look ahead to a big weekend coming up with games vs. Surrey, Langley and Cowichan Valley starting Friday.
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