It’s game night in Prince George.
The Smoke Eaters take on the Sprunce Kings Friday and Saturday night to close out the pre-Christmas portion of their schedule.
They are hoping for a bounce back response from last Saturday’s 6-3 setback in West Kelowna.
A wild first period saw the teams score three times each, but it was the Warriors who reeled off five unanswered goals, including the deal-sealer into an empty net.
Mathieu Cobetto-Roy scored senational goals during that game and the night before when his sneaky solo effort sparked a second period rally on the way to Trail’s 5-2 win over Vernon.
He is tied for the team’s lead in points, along with Adam Marshall and Adam Barone at 21. Marshall has a team-leading 11 goals, while Barone, who is 7th in scoring among BCHL defencemen, has a team-leading 16 assists. Meanwhile, Barone and Smokies forward Chase Stefanek have been named to the Interior Conference roster for next month’s BCHL Top Prospects game in Penticton.
The Spruce Kings are paced by Kilian McGregor-Bennett who has 9 goals and 20 points. Linden Makow was their offensive catalyst during last weekend’s doubleheader split in Cranbrook. He had two goals and three assists and was named the BCHL’s second star of last week.
These teams met on October 28th in Trail, with the Smoke Eaters prevailing 7-3.
They built leads of 5-0 late in the second period and 6-1 early in the third while outshooting the Spruce Kings 30-8 to that point.
Prince George popped in a pair of goals to make the game interesting, until Adam Parsons fired a shot into the top corner with 1:25 remaining.
The three Adams: Barone, Marshall and Parsons each had a goal and two assists.
It’s going to be a tough test for the Smoke Eaters as the Spruce Kings have had their best success this season on home ice, putting together a record of 6-3-2, while the Smokies are 3-6-3 on the road.
Max Potvin remains out of the Trail lineup with an upper body injury.
