Mission City Outlaws advance past Port Moody in PJHL playoffs

Published 2:07 pm Thursday, February 26, 2026

The Mission City Outlaws are moving on to the next round of the PJHL playoffs after downing the Port Moody Panthers in five games.

After splitting the opening two games, Mission claimed three straight to advance to the Harold Brittain Conference semi-finals.

“We had a good start to our postseason,” Mission head coach and general manager Richard Kimber said. “Our team played a very physical and high-energy game all series. We were battle-tested and now we rest up, prepare, and wait for our next opponent.”

At the Leisure Centre on Saturday (Feb. 21), Mission rode a pair of goals from Mateo Prexler to a 6-4 victory over the visiting Panthers.

Taylor Mackie opened the scoring for Mission early in the first period before Port Moody clapped back with a pair to go ahead 2-1.

However, a flurry of goals from Prexler, Cooper Crowe and Ethan Raymond within about a minute of each other put the Outlaws in front 4-2 after 20 minutes.

Prexler’s second of the night was the lone goal of the second period and Port Moody fought back in the third. Back-to-back goals from Dane Svingen-Jones made it a one-goal game, but Crowe clinched the win with an empty-netter.

The three-point night from Prexler earned him first star of the contest, while Raymond (1 G 2 A) and Crowe (2 G) also recorded multiple points.

Port Moody outshot Mission 40-23 in the contest and Jake Poblete made 36 saves to earn the win.

The series shifted back to Port Moody on Sunday and the Outlaws took advantage of opportunities on special teams to defeat the Panthers in a 4-2 comeback.

Devon Lee opened the scoring for Port Moody early in the first before Colton Collard answered on the power play for Mission.

Former Outlaw Aidan Samuels scored for the Panthers with less than a minute to go in the first to take a 2-1 advantage into the locker room.

Poblete and Port Moody netminder Ty Angus stayed sharp between the pipes in a scoreless second period before Mission mounted its comeback in the third.

Cade Peden and Rylan Elson both scored on the power play early in the final stanza to seize the lead for the visiting Outlaws. Samuel Gerbrand potted an empty-netter to clinch it in the final seconds.

Crowe (3 A) and Elson (1 G 2 A) notched a game-high three points, while Collard chipped in a goal and assist as well and Poblete turned in another stellar performance with 40 saves.

After taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, Mission returned to home ice and won the series with a 4-1 victory on Tuesday (Feb. 24).

Raymond got the Outlaws on the board in the first period and Collard extended the lead to 2-0 with a power play goal in the second.

Svingen-Jones cut the deficit in half for the Panthers to kick off the third, but Ben Leslie scored an unassisted goal midway through the period to put Mission back in front by two.

With two seconds left, Elson added another empty-netter to put the finishing touches on the series win.

Mission now awaits their opponents in the next round. White Rock has already advanced, while the Surrey Knights lead the North Vancouver Wolf Pack 3-1 and Cloverdale leads Abbotsford 3-2.

“We’re excited for our second round opponent whoever that may be,” Kimber said.