PHOTO: Chris Fowler/Pure Life Photography
The Trail Smoke Eaters look to earn three of a possible four points on the weekend as they face-off against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the final game of the weekend doubleheader on Saturday night at the Shaw Centre.
Smoke Eaters vs. Silverbacks 2018/19 Regular Season Schedule:
Friday, September 14th @ Trail Memorial Centre (6-3 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, October 27th @ Shaw Centre (4-2 Silverbacks) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, January 25th @ Shaw Centre (3-2 Silverbacks/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, January 26th @ Shaw Centre (7:00 PM)
Friday, February 8th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
Saturday, February 9th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
The Smoke Eaters and Silverbacks play in the fourth game of their season series tonight from Salmon Arm with the ‘Backs handing the Smoke Eaters a 3-2 defeat in overtime on Friday night at the Shaw Centre. Hayden Rowan tallied on the power play to tie the game in the 3rd period before Chase Stevenson scored 1:02 later to give Trail an advantage before Salmon Arm came back and tied the game late before winning in overtime. Adam Marcoux turned aside 29 of the 32 shots he faced in the game in his 21st loss of the season.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Chase Stevenson (18-26-44)
Carter Jones (12-27-39)
Kent Johnson (16-21-37)
Braeden Tuck (11-23-34)
Trevor Zins (10-23-33)
The Smoke Eaters leading scorer extended his point streak to four games with his goal on Friday night and also stretched his play of earning points in eight of his last nine contests. The University of New Hampshire commit has a pair of goals to go along with three assists for five points over that four-game span and sits as the BC Hockey League’s 25th top scorer.
Hayden Rowan also had his strong stretch of play continue on Friday night, scoring his fourth goal in his last six games. The Pemberville, Ohio native sits 3rd in team goal scoring this season with his 15 markers as well as leading the Smoke Eaters and ranking tied for 6th in the BCHL in power play goals with 9.
Trail will turn to newcomer Donovan Buskey tonight, who gets his second start in the BCHL at the Shaw Centre. The North Vancouver, BC native started his first game last Friday in Wenatchee and had a strong game against the Wild, despite the numbers not being where the 18-year-old would have liked to see them. Buskey held a 9-1 record in 11 games played with the Prince Albert Raiders of the Western Hockey League while also holding a 3.07 GAA and an .870 SV% before coming to Trail.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks enter play with a 22-17-4-1 record to sit 4th in the Interior Division with help from their 3-2 victory over the Smoke Eaters last night at the Shaw Centre. Matthew Verboon and Nick Unruh scored in regulation before Justin Wilson ended the game in the overtime session for the ‘Backs. Ethan Langenegger stopped 30 of the 32 shots he faced in the game in his 13th win of the season.
Silverbacks Leading Scorers:
Matthew Verboon (18-22-40)
Justin Wilson (20-18-38)
Trevor Adams (14-20-34)
Noah Wakeford (8-24-32)
Hudson Schandor (15-16-31)
Although it’s been a season of battling some injuries, Justin Wilson has paced strong offensive numbers this season and the recently committed AIC Yellow Jacket is sitting at over a point per game rate this season. The North Vancouver, BC native has earned three multi-point game in his last four contests, including a four-point outing against the Nanaimo Clippers. Wilson has earned 4 goals and 6 assists for 10 points in that four-game span.
Colgate University committed forward Matthew Verboon was away from his team for just over a month competing with Team Switzerland at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Vancouver and has been red hot since his return to Salmon Arm. The Richmond Hill, Ontario native is the owner of a seven-game point streak, scoring 5 goals and adding 6 assists for 10 points in that span including assists in each of his last seven contests.
The Smoke Eaters and Silverbacks drop the puck on their weekend set at the Shaw Centre at 7:00 PM on Friday night. The game will be broadcasted with a live audio stream at mixlr.com/trail-smoke-eaters as well as on pay-per-view at HockeyTV.com beginning at 6:50 PM with the pre-game show with the Voice of the Smoke Eaters, Trevor Miller.
