The Smokies open a three game Alberta swing tonight (Wed) against the defending BCHL Champion in Brooks.
The Trail troupe will try to turn the tables against the leaders of the Interior East Division after Saturday’s hard fought 5-4 Cominco Arena loss to Blackfalds.
The task will be a tough one.
The Bandits have a home record of 5-0-2 and are tied with Prince George for first in goals scored with 71, having achieved that in one fewer game than the Spruce Kings.
In addition to averaging more than five goals per game, the Bandits have the league’s second best power play at 36.1%.
Zachary Deleau is the BCHL’s top scoring defenseman with 19 points, with 11 coming on the power play, including three of his four goals.
Avoiding unnecessary penalties will be crucial for the Smokies against a team that draws an average of five man power advantages per game.
Bandits leading goal man Makaio Van Tassel has tallied ten times, including twice on penalty shots, while returnee Dimitrijs Dilevka has a team leading 23 points.
Rookie Roberts Polis continues to sit atop the Smokies stat sheet with 14 points.
There were many positives for the Smokies despite the Saturday night setback, including Fruitvale’s Wade Gallamore scoring his first BCHL goal and Dysen Drake burying his team-leading ninth goal of the season.
Meanwhile, winger Daniel Rassega is riding a six game points streak on the road as Trail looks to improve on its overall record of 7-7 and 4-3 mark away from Cominco Arena.
Game time is 5:30 p.m. Pacific with all the action on Mixlr and FloHockey.
The next home games at Cominco Arena are November 13 (vs Brooks) and 14 (vs Vernon) on Family Weekend. Good seats are available at Tickets.TrailSmokeEaters.com.
