PHOTO: Mike Hockley
The Trail Smoke Eaters continue their three-game home stand with a visit from the Wenatchee Wild on Wednesday night at the Trail Memorial Centre.
Smoke Eaters vs. Wild 2018/19 Schedule:
Saturday, September 29th @ Trail Memorial Centre (5-2 Wild) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, October 24th @ Town Toyota Center (5-4 Wild/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, November 16th @ Trail Memorial Centre (3-2 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Wednesday, December 19th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
Friday, January 18th @ Town Toyota Center (7:05 PM)
Saturday, January 19th @ Town Toyota Center (7:05 PM)
The Smoke Eaters and Wild play the fourth game of their six-game season series with Trail coming away victorious in their last meeting about a month ago at the Trail Memorial Centre. Carter Jones, Mack Byers and Bryce Anderson each scored in the win for the Smoke Eaters while Adam Marcoux turned aside 23 of the 25 shots he faced in the game for the victory between the pipes.
Trail comes into this week’s set of games after collecting four of a possible six points last week, capped off by a 3-2 victory over the Penticton Vees on Saturday night at the Trail Memorial Centre. Diarmad DiMurro scored his first two career BC Hockey League goals, including the game winning marker in the 3rd period while Chase Stevenson potted the Teddy Bear Toss goal a minute and a half into the game. Adam Marcoux made 28 saves on 30 shots for his 11th victory of the season.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Chase Stevenson (14-18-32)
Carter Jones (11-19-30)
Braeden Tuck (10-18-28)
Kent Johnson (11-13-24)
Trevor Zins (6-17-23)
Forward Tyler Ghirardosi will suit up for his 100th career BCHL game tonight against the Wild, marking the third Smoke Eater to eclipse the century mark in games played this season. The Montrose, BC native has compiled 24 goals and 35 assists for 59 points in 99 career Junior ‘A’ games while registering 5 goals and 12 assists for 17 points in 2 games this season. The Quinnipiac University commit saw his goal scoring skills highlighted in the playoffs a season ago, scoring 8 goals in 12 games for the Smoke Eaters during their 2018 postseason run.
Chase Stevenson had a terrific showing on Saturday night in the Smoke Eaters 3-2 defeat of the Vees, earning a goal and two assists for a three-point night, including scoring the annual Teddy Bear Toss goal. The University of New Hampshire commit posted his sixth multi-point game of the season with the performance on Saturday night and registered a pair of goals and a pair of assists for four points over the Smoke Eaters three-game week.
With just two home games left on the schedule for the year 2018, the Smoke Eaters look to continue their strong play into the late part of the year and early 2019. Trail has collected at least a point in six of their last seven home games, compiling a record of 4-1-1-1 over that span at the Trail Memorial Centre, including picking up three of a possible four points in their two home games last week.
The Wenatchee Wild enter play on Wednesday night with a 22-10-2-0 record and sit in 1st place in the Interior Division after a 4-3 overtime victory against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday night at the Town Toyota Center. Matt Gosiewski scored the overtime winner with 33 seconds remaining in the extra frame while Brandon Koch, Murphy Stratton and Christophe Fillion scored regulation markers. Cal Sandquist allowed two goals on ten shots before being relieved by Austin Park, who stopped 12 of the 13 shots put his way in his 12th win of the season.
Wild Leading Scorers:
Lucas Sowder (11-25-36)
Matt Gosiewski (22-13-35)
Murphy Stratton (6-26-32)
Josh Arnold (12-17-29)
Brandon Koch (6-22-28)
Christmas has come a week early for the BCHL’s only team south of the border as the Wild come into Wednesday night’s contest with a nine-game winning streak. Wenatchee has outscored their opposition by a staggering 57-22 margin and have scored four of more goals in each of those nine games. The Wild have vaulted to 3rd in the BCHL in goals for at 139 this season, sitting behind Victoria (142) and West Kelowna (141) in the standings. The Wild’s last loss came to the Smoke Eaters in Trail just over a month ago.
Wenatchee captain Lucas Sowder has found a surge offensively in the beginning of the winter months, coming into play riding a seven-game point streak. The Trinity, Florida native has three goals and eight assists for twelve points over that span to overtake the team lead in scoring. The Minnesota State Mankato commit factored into three goals on Friday night with his three assists and sits tied for 14th in the BCHL with helpers with 25.
Matt Gosiewski is another member of the Wild who has seen their offensive numbers surge over the last few games. Recently committing to Bentley University, Gosiewski has points in eight of his last nine games, including riding a three-game point streak. The Wilton, Connecticut native has four goals and two assists for six points in his last three contests, including goals in each of those games and the overtime winner on Friday night against Salmon Arm.
The Smoke Eaters and Wild drop the puck at 7:00 PM from the Trail Memorial Centre with former NHLer Craig Cunningham on hand to drop the ceremonial first puck supporting his Craig Cunningham’s All Heart Foundation. Tickets are available at the Smoke Eaters Main Office as well as at the door ahead of the opening face-off.
