Game 5 of the WLA final took place on Friday night as the Langley Thunder tried to close out the series at home with another victory over the Coquitlam Adanacs. While Coquitlam needed to get a win in order to stay alive in this series.
The first period was defensive battle between the two teams as neither offense could get going in the early part of the period. Coquitlam would finally breakthrough 9 minutes into the period as Ryan Johnson scored to give Coquitlam a 1-0 lead. Coquitlam would keep the pressure on Langley and outshot them 17-9 in the first period.  despite being out shot Langley would tie the game up with 2 minutes left in the period as Lewis Ratcliff scored in order to make it 1-1 as the game headed into the second period. In the second period Coquitlam would continue their offensive pressure on Langley as Kevin Olson scored just 5 minutes into the period to give Coquitlam a 2-1 lead. Dane Dobbie would strike a minute later for Coquitlam in order to increase their lead to 3-1. Coquitlam began to take control of this game but 7 minutes into the second period Nick Rose was ejected from the game for illegal equipment. This was a major blow for Coquitlam as Rose has been superb in net all season. Despite losing Rose for the game Coquitlam continued to build on their lead as Kevin Olson would score again to give Coquitlam a 4-1 lead. Langley’s offense would finally get back on track with 7 minutes left in the period as Athan Iannucci scored to make it 4-2. With just 2 minutes left in the period Coquitlam would strike again as Ben McIntosh scored on the power play in order to give Coquitlam a 5-2 lead heading into the third period.
In the third period Coquitlam continued their offensive assault as Ben McIntosh would score 29 seconds into the period to give Coquitlam a 6-2 lead. Robert Church would continue the Coquitlam onslaught as he found the back of the net to make it 7-2 for Coquitlam. Coquitlam was in full control of this game until 7 minutes into the third period when Alex Turner gave life back to Langley as he scored to make it 7-3. Langley would build on Turner’s goal as their offense finally got on track as Garrett Billings scored with 10 minutes left in the period to make the score 7-4. Langley would continue to fight in this game as Sam Cook scored to cut the lead to just 2 with 8 minutes left in the game as the score was now 7-5. Langley would continue their comeback as Lewis Ratcliff scored with just under 4 minutes left in the period to make the score 7-6. Coquitlam would settle down on defense though as they were able to hold off Langley in the final minutes of this game in order to stay alive in this series. The MVP for Coquitlam in this game was Dane Dobbie while the MVP for Langley was Lewis Ratcliff.
The Adanacs won this game due to their ability to build an early lead while being able to hold Langley’s offense to just 2 goals in the first two periods. Despite almost falling apart in the third Coquitlam was able to gut check and hold on for the 7-6 lead. The series will now shift back to Coquitlam as Langley will try once again to close out the series while Coquitlam will try to continue their comeback in this series.
