PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
The Trail Smoke Eaters continue their three-game Mainland Division swing as they head to the George Preston Arena to face-off against the Langley Rivermen on Saturday night in the second of their three-game season series.
Smoke Eaters vs. Rivermen 2018/19 Regular Season Schedule:
Thursday, September 20th @ Prospera Centre (4-1 Rivermen) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, December 8th @ George Preston Arena (7:15 PM)
Friday, February 15th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
The Smoke Eaters and Rivermen play the second of their three-game season set tonight in Langley with the ‘Riv coming away with a 4-1 victory in early in the season at the Bauer BCHL Showcase at Prospera Centre in Chilliwack. Braeden Tuck scored the lone Smoke Eaters goal on the power play in the game while Adam Marcoux stopped 22 of the 26 shots he faced in the game.
Trail comes into Saturday night’s tilt after a big 4-1 victory over the Coquitlam Express on Friday night at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Centre. Affiliate player and Smoke Eaters commit Chase Dafoe scored his first BCHL goal while Owen Ozar, Kent Johnson and Michael Hodge also found the back of the net in the win. Adam Marcoux turned aside 30 of the 31 shots he faced for his 10th win of the season.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Carter Jones (10-19-29)
Chase Stevenson (12-15-27)
Braeden Tuck (10-16-26)
Kent Johnson (11-12-23)
Trevor Zins (6-16-22)
Carter Jones had a strong night on Friday, earning a pair of assists and has taken over the team lead in points with 29 in 33 games this season. The Bemidji State University commit has points in each of his last three games, registering a goal and four assists for five points over that span and has points in five of his last six games to go along with three straight.
With the win in Coquitlam on Friday night, the Smoke Eaters snapped a five-game skid playing away from the comfy confines at the Trail Memorial Centre. The victory also pushed the Smoke Eaters to just a point behind the 6th place Vernon Vipers who are in action tonight as they host the West Kelowna Warriors.
The Langley Rivermen enter play on Saturday night with a 15-15-1-0 record and sit 4th in the Mainland Division and are coming off of a 3-1 loss on Wednesday afternoon to the Chilliwack Chiefs at Prospera Centre. Benjamin Perkins scored his first career BCHL goal and stood as the only marker for the Rivermen in the game while Braedon Fleming stopped 25 of the 28 shots he faced in the contest in his 12th loss of the season.
Rivermen Leading Scorers:
Ethan Leyh (14-16-30)
Jake Livingstone (5-17-22)
Trevor Ayre (14-5-19)
Alec Capstick (2-14-16)
Tanner Versluis (6-9-15)
The Rivermen sit 11th in the BCHL in goals for and will look to manufacture some offence without their leading producer as Ethan Leyh made the final cut and is with Team Canada West at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge in Bonnyville, Alberta. Rivermen defender Ryan Helliwell joined Leyh at the tryouts for Team Canada West but will be in the lineup for Langley tonight as he plays his second game since serving a four-game suspension.
Abbotsford, BC native Devin Leduc may be one of those players that could help fill the void offensively for the Rivermen as he has collected points in three of his last four games. The 6’0”, 197-pound forward has three goals and an assist for four points over that span and sits 4th on the team with 6 goals this season.
The Smoke Eaters and Rivermen drop the puck at 7:00 PM from the George Preston Arena in Langley with the pre-game show getting underway at 6:50 PM on mixlr.com/trail-smoke-eaters and HockeyTV.com with the Voice of the Smoke Eaters, Trevor Miller.
