Action was hot and heavy in front of Dyment – 45 saves on the night.
The Smoke Eaters are .500 on the road but find themselves struggling at home. Despite being in every game their record is 2/6 in the confines of the Cominco Arena. They dropped the second game of a home & home weekend with the Vernon Vipers on Saturday night losing 2-1 at home. In the first game of the series the Smokies defeated the Vipers in Vernon on Friday night, 4-3. With a win on Saturday the Smokies could have vaulted into third place, one point ahead of the Vipers but now find themselves in fourth place, 3 points behind third place Vernon and one point ahead of fifth place Salmon Arm.
The Smoke Eaters led 1-0 after the first period despite being outshot 15-6. Kale Howarth scored his tenth goal of the season for the Smokies at 2:46 with the assist going to Luke Santerno.
The Vipers scored two unanswered goals in the second period for a 2-1 lead that stood up for the win. Riley Brandt and Keith Anderson were the goal scorers for Vernon.
There was no scoring in the third as the Vipers outshot the Smokies 18 – 8. On the night the Vipers outshot the Smoke Eaters 47-24. “It’s safe to say that it was an off night for the guys,” commented Assistant Coach/GM, of the Smokies, Curtis Toneff. “You’ve got to feel for Zach Dyment, who was unreal in net for us again.” “Hopefully the pace of these divisional games is a bit of a wake up call for some of our guys to show them what it’s going to be like down the stretch.”
First star of the game was Viper’s goaltender Ty Taylor, second star with 45 saves on the night was Zach Dyment and Smokies Luke Santerno was named third star. Fortis Energy Player of the Game was Smokies Tyson Slater.
The Smokies now have a week off to prepare for two home games next weekend. They face the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday night. Game time is 7:30 PM at the Cominco Arena. On Sunday they face the Victoria Grizzlies who lead the Island Division. Earlier in the season the Smokies defeated the Grizzlies 5-4 in double O/T at the BCHL Showcase. Game time on Sunday is 3:00 PM also at the Cominco Arena. The games bookend the Annual Smoke Eater $1000 reverse draw dinner and dance being held at the Colombo Lodge on Saturday, October 29. The function is “Sold Out.” The dinner highlights the annual parent’s weekend for the team as well as the introduction of the team’s new owner.
