The Smoke Eaters play their second of three games this month in Salmon Arm in a Friday night showdown against the Silverbacks, looking for their fifth straight win.
It’s also a return to the scene of arguably their best performance of the season.
The 4-1 win on March 2nd was anchored by a stellar 29-save performance by goalie Teagan Kendrick, while a balanced offensive attack produced three goals from tough areas around the net, along with a 200-foot defensive game against a Silverbacks team that keeps coming at you.
Ridge Dawson, who was named BCHL Third Star last week, scored the winning goal in that game and is riding a three-game goal scoring streak on the road. The power forward also has points in the last four games.
Defenseman Ethan Warrener had two assists in the March 2nd win, to go with three goals and an assist the night before in West Kelowna, earning BCHL Second Star honours for that week. The 20-year-old has also just committed to the University of Alaska Anchorage for next season.
The Smokies have won the last four games without veteran forwards Josh Schenk and Ethan Mann, who have recovered from lower body injuries and return to the lineup in Salmon Arm, but the Smokies are not totally healthy.
Top scorer Mathieu Cobetto-Roy is out for at least this weekend with an upper-body injury suffered near the end of last Saturday’s 6-2 win over Vernon at Cominco Arena – a game in which he had two goals and an assist. Cobetto-Roy is also eighth in the BCHL points race with 49, including 25 goals.
Trail is just one point behind Vernon in the race for fourth place in the Interior Conference, with six games to go for both teams. The team that finishes fourth has home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs and if the postseason started tonight, the Smoke Eaters would meet the Vipers in the opening round. Vernon has home games this weekend against Nanaimo and Alberni Valley. The Smoke Eaters return home Saturday night to host the Cranbrook Bucks.
Both games, which can be heard on Mixlr and watched on FloHockey, get underway at 7 p.m. Good seats are still available for Saturday’s game at Tickets.TrailSmokeEaters.com.
