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GAME PREVIEW: Smoke Eaters Head North For Battle Against Spruce Kings

PHOTO: Mike Hockley

The Trail Smoke Eaters head up north, making their farthest trip of the season as they take on Prince George Spruce Kings at the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena to close out the team’s season series on Wednesday night.

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Smoke Eaters vs. Spruce Kings 2018/19 Schedule:

Friday, October 26th @ Trail Memorial Centre (5-2 Spruce Kings) (BOXSCORE)

Wednesday, November 21st @ Rolling Mix Concrete Arena (7:00 PM)

The Smoke Eaters and Spruce Kings wrap up their season series on Wednesday night with Trail looking to even the season set after a 5-2 setback to Prince George in late October on home ice. Kent Johnson and Bryce Anderson each scored in the game for the Smoke Eaters while Adam Marcoux made 24 saves on 28 shots in the defeat.

Trail picked up two wins in their three games from a week ago, coming into Wednesday night with a 10-11-4-2 record after a 4-2 defeat to the Merritt Centennials on Saturday night at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Mack Byers and Braeden Tuck each scored on the power play for the Smoke Eaters with Adam Marcoux turning side 32 of the 36 shots he faced in the game in his 11th loss of the season.

Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:

Chase Stevenson (10-13-23)

Braeden Tuck (10-12-22)

Carter Jones (8-14-22)

Kent Johnson (10-10-20)

Trevor Zins (6-12-18)

Trail’s power play struck twice on Saturday night in Merritt and has improved to 2nd in the BC Hockey League at 21.5%. The Smoke Eaters will go up against a Spruce Kings team that doesn’t give up much in the way of power play opportunities, sitting with 85 penalty kills against, the least in the league.

Owen Ozar will look to continue his offensive output, accumulating points in four straight games and has three goals and ten points in his eleven games played this season. The Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native has assisted in each of his last four games and has at least a point 8 of his 11 games played in his BCHL career.

The Smoke Eaters will look to Adam Marcoux in net tonight as he makes his sixth consecutive start in between the pipes for Trail. The Calgary, Alberta native has two wins in his last three starts, playing to the tune of a 2.67 GAA and a .908 SV%, turning aside 79 of the 87 shots he has faced over those three contests.

The Prince George Spruce Kings enter play with a 17-7-1-1 record and sit 3rd in the Mainland Division after picking up five of a possible six points on an Island road trip last weekend, closing with a 3-2 overtime setback to the Nanaimo Clippers at the Frank Crane Arena. Ben Poisson and Tyler Schleppe each scored in the game for the Spruce Kings while Bradley Cooper turned aside 25 of the 28 shots he faced in his 5th loss of the season.

Spruce Kings Leading Scorers:

Ben Brar (18-11-29)

Dustin Manz (10-17-27)

Patrick Cozzi (6-17-23)

Ben Poisson (10-12-22)

Nick Bochen (5-13-18)

The month of November has been a good one for the reigning Mainland Division champions, collecting points in six of the seven games played this month. The Spruce Kings have outscored their opponents 21-9 over that stretch of time, including taking five out of six points on a recent Island Division road trip.

Prince George has been stingy this season, leading the BCHL with 56 goals allowed in 26 games, anchored in large part by the strength of goaltender Logan Neaton. The Brighton, Michigan native has won each of his last seven starts, boasting a 1.14 GAA and a .942 SV% over that span. The 19-year-old leads the league in goals against average at 1.98, the only goaltender in the BCHL to have an under 2.00 GAA.

Spruce Kings 19-year-old captain Ben Poison has been showing well this season, collecting 22 points in 24 games and has points in four straight games along with points in five in his last six contests. The University of Maine commit has scored four goals and added two assists for six points in those six games two goals and two assists in his last four games.

The Smoke Eaters and the Kings drop the puck from the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena at 7:00 PM with the pre-game show getting underway at 6:50 PM on mixlr.com/trail-smoke-eaters as well as HockeyTV.com with the Voice of the Smoke Eaters, Trevor Miller.