Cole Donhauser and Kevin Wall each scored a goal and Daniel Chenard made 26 stops as the Chilliwack Chiefs staved off elimination for the second game in a row after beating the Langley Rivermen 2-1 in Game 5 of their first-round series.
The Chiefs opened the scoring on Donhauser’s first-period power-play goal with less than five minutes to go. After a scoreless second, Wall potted Chilliwack’s second goal of the game at the 13:26 mark of the third period after a great individual effort by Brett Rylance set him up with a tap-in at the side of the net. Alec Capstick’s point shot found a way through Chenard two minutes later to give the Rivermen a chance at the end, but that’s as close as they would come.
Despite going down 3-0 in the series, Chilliwack has a chance to force a Game 7 with a win tomorrow night in Langley.
Ben Poisson had a pair of goals and Chong Min Lee assisted on both as the Prince George Spruce Kings doubled up the Coquitlam Express 4-2 in game Game 5 of their first-round series to advance to the second round. Poisson and Corey Cunningham both scored in the first period and Poisson notched his second in the middle frame to give the Spruce Kings a 3-0 lead after two. Ben Brar scored his second of the playoffs 5:07 into the third, but the Express didn’t give up as they replied with goals by Dallas Farrell and Jack Cameron to cut the lead to two. PG goalie Logan Neaton shut the door the rest of the way, making 24 saves to earn the victory. The Spruce Kings will play the winner of the Chilliwack/Langley series in Round 2.
Mitchell Williams had three points, while four other Kings had multi-point nights as Powell River beat the Nanaimo Clippers 5-1 to advance to Round 2 in five games. Neal Samanski got Powell River on the board 2:21 into the game and Ben Thomas added another shortly after to give their team a 2-0 lead after one. Joshua Bourne got Nanaimo back into the game with an early second-period goal, but the Kings responded with goals by Levi Glasman and two from Williams to go up 5-1 after two and that’s all they would need the rest of the way. Mitch Adamyk stopped 25 of 26 shots in the win. After his one goal, one assist performance, Glasman climbs into a tie for third in BCHL playoff scoring with seven points (five goals, two assists) in five games. Powell River will take on the Victoria Grizzlies in Round 2.
