After playing just two home games in the month of November, the Trail Smoke Eaters open December at home with a Friday night showdown against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.
They are also hoping to bounce back from a 5-0 setback Wednesday night in Penticton.
The game started well with an early territorial edge and scoring chances, but the Vees struck first about 11 minutes into the opening period and added a power play goal to take a 2-0 lead after twenty minutes.
The Smoke Eaters swarmed the defending champions and league leaders early in the second period and had several chances including Max Potvin’s shot off the crossbar which was confirmed after a long video review.
Shortly after, Swiss import Simon Meier sniped a shot from the right wing circle to make it 3-0 through 40 minutes despite an evenly played second period.
The Vees added a pair of third period goals to post their third straight regulation win over the Smoke Eaters.
The Silverbacks are looking for their third straight win after victories last weekend at home over Surrey and Cranbrook.
It’s a big game in the Interior Conference standings as the 4th place Silverbacks are four points ahead of Trail with three games in hand.
These teams met on September 29th in Trail, with Josh Schenk scoring twice, including the winner in a 4-3 victory, getting the winner while goalie Ryan Grout was in the corner trying to play a loose puck.
It ended up in the crease where Schenk tapped it in to a wide open net.
The Silverbacks are stingy on defense, giving up an average of just 2.5 goals a game and have impressive numbers on the penalty kill.
In other developments, Smokies defenceman Adam Barone was named third star in the BCHL last week after posting four assists during the overtime win in Vernon and the overtime loss in Merritt.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old winger Adam Parsons has been named to the initial roster for the BCHL All-Star weekend three-on-three tournament on January 20th in Penticton.
The Cominco Arena clash against Salmon Arm is set to start at 7 p.m. PT. It’s also BINGO Night and tickets are still available at Tickets.TrailSmokeEaters.com.
