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Spruce Kings punch ticket to round two after series-clinching win over Express

Talk about timely scoring.

The Prince George Spruce Kings got more than their fair share of it on Thursday in a dominant 4-2 victory over the Coquitlam Express at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena.

Prince George’s coronation into the second round was witnessed by 1,220 spectators who saw the line of Ben Poisson, Nick Poisson, and Chong Min Lee toy with the Express all game.

The elder of the two brothers paved the way offensively lighting the lamp twice in the victory, while being set up by Lee on both occasions.

“Everything is clicking between us three right now, Chong is moving his feet making those simple plays and it’s awesome for us.”

“Overall, I think that was our best game of the series and I think we needed that. I mean, we needed to wrap it up and move on to the next series.”

Coquitlam got off to a nightmare start falling behind 4-0 as the Express allowed single tallies to Corey Cunningham and Ben Brar who both deflected point shots past netminder Clay Stevenson who looked somewhat human in the net for Coquitlam after posting a pair of stellar outings.

The Spruce Kings should be battle tested heading into round two as the intensity of their first round matchup against the Express reached a fever pitch at times, most notably the continuous battle between Liam Watson Brawn and Coquitlam forward Alex DiPaolo.

“It was tough, he’s a great competitor we had a couple of words to each other during the game but after it was all respect. It’s kind of how hockey should be, he was successful this year but we got the result we needed,” said Watson-Brawn.

Coquitlam finally got on the scoreboard with a pair of late goals in the third period courtesy of Dallas Farrell and Jack Cameron who beat Spruce Kings netminder Logan Neaton.

Prince George outshot the Express 38-26 in the game and will await the winner of the Chilliwack Chiefs/Langley Rivermen best-of-seven semi-final where the Chiefs forced a game six with a 2-1 victory.

Langley leads the series 3-2.

Coquitlam-Prince George results: (Spruce Kings home games in bold)

Game 1 – Friday March 1st – Coquitlam @ Prince George –  SK WON 3-1
Game 2 – Saturday March 2nd – Coquitlam @ Prince George – SK WON 3-2 (OT)

Game 3 – Monday March 4th – Prince George @ Coquitlam – SK WON 5-2
Game 4 – Tuesday March 5th – Prince George @ Coquitlam – EXPRESS WON 3-0
Game 5 – Thursday March 7th – Coquitlam @ Prince George – SK WON 4-2

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Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].

Brendan Pawliw
Brendan Pawliw
Since moving to Prince George in 2015, Brendan has covered local sports including the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Prince George Spruce Kings, UNBC Timberwolves, Cariboo Cougars AAA, and Northern Capitals U18 female hockey teams. Career highlights include play-by-play during the Spruce Kings' BCHL championship runs in 2018 and 2019, including the Doyle Cup win. He also covered the 2019 National Junior A Championship, the 2017 Telus Cup, the 2022 World Women’s Curling Championship, and the 2022 BC Summer Games. Brendan is the news voice on 94.3 The Goat and Country 97 FM, reporting on crime, real estate, labour, and environmental issues. Outside of work, he officiates box lacrosse and fastball, sits on the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame board, and co-hosts the Hockey North podcast.

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