The Vernon Vipers make their first 2025-26 visit to Cominco Arena tonight, as the Trail Smoke Eaters lift the lid on a second straight home-ice doubleheader weekend.
Both teams are coming off victories.
The Smokies offense was in high gear last Saturday night, stunning Okotoks 7-1.
Zach Coutu snapped a 13-game goalless drought sniping the game winner late in the first period, while defenseman Colton Whitfield closed out the scoring with his first BCHL goal.
20-year-old Lyam Leblanc made an impressive Smokies debut, turning in a strong 32 save performance in goal.
The Vipers got two unassisted goals from captain Deegan McMillan which proved to be the difference in a 4-2 upset victory last Saturday over the division leading West Kelowna Warriors. Vernon picked up a point the night before in a 3-2 overtime loss to Salmon Arm.
Overtime has been elusive for the Vipers who are 1-and-5 in the tie breaking period including a 4-3 loss to the Smokies on the opening night of the regular season in Vernon. Coutu counted the winner in game one and the Smokies captured the second game of the season series 4-3 in regulation seven nights later.
Dylan Lariviere scored the Smokies first goal of the season back on September 19 in Vernon and got the game’s opening goal the following weekend in the Okanagan.
Erik Pastro of the Smokies has also scored against the Vipers, his former team, while Evan Sundar who was swapped for Pastro before the beginning of the regular season has two goals against Trail.
The 15-and-5 Smokies trail the first place Warriors by two points, while the 4-10-5 Vipers are two points ahead of the last place Cranbrook Bucks.
One of the big differences between tonight’s two combatants is their results in one-goal games.
The Smokies are 8-and-1, while Vernon is 1-4-5.
Tonight’s Vipers lineup is vastly different from late September as there are ten new players on Vernon’s roster.
Two Smokies are riding streaks.
Christian Kim has points in seven straight games and leads the Trail troupe with 21 points.
Michael Monroe leads the Vipers with nine goals, while McMillan has a team leading 14 points.
It’s a 7 p.m. start and good seats are still available at Tickets.TrailSmokeEaters.com.
