PHOTO: Mike Hockley
The Trail Smoke Eaters continue their six-game home stand as they host the Penticton Vees on the final Welcome Wednesday of the season at the Trail Memorial Centre.
Smoke Eaters vs. Vees 2018/19 Regular Season Schedule:
Saturday, November 10th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (4-3 Vees/OT) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, November 30th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7-4 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, December 1st @ South Okanagan Events Centre (3-2 Vees) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, December 14th @ South Okanagan Events Centre (2-1 Vees/SO) (BOXSCORE)
Saturday, December 15th @ Trail Memorial Centre (3-2 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, February 13th @ Trail Memorial Centre (7:00 PM)
The Smoke Eaters and Vees conclude their season series tonight with just under two months in between meetings since Trail earned a 3-2 victory over Penticton in the middle of December at the Trail Memorial Centre. Chase Stevenson scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal just over a minute and a half into the game while Diarmad DiMurro tallied a pair of goals, including the game winner in the 3rd period to help the home side to the win. Adam Marcoux made 28 saves on 30 shots in the win in between the pipes.
Trail comes into the mid-week matchup after a strong showing offensively on Saturday night in a 10-3 victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks at the Trail Memorial Centre. Tyler Ghirardosi registered a hat trick while Mack Byers, Braeden Tuck and Max Kryski scored twice along with a single from Kent Johnson. Donovan Buskey stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced in the game in his 2nd career BC Hockey League victory.
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Chase Stevenson (18-31-49)
Carter Jones (13-34-47)
Kent Johnson (18-24-42)
Trevor Zins (11-30-41)
Braeden Tuck (13-23-36)
Montrose, BC native Tyler Ghirardosi had a big night on Saturday, earning his second career BCHL hat trick and his first career four-point night. The Quinnipiac University commit carries a five-game point streak into Wednesday night’s affair, scoring five goals and three assists for eight points in that span including a trio of power play goals scored on Saturday night.
Carter Jones has seen his offensive ways rewarding over the past handful of games, entering Wednesday night with points in five of his last six games. The Hillyard, Washington native has scored a goal and added eight assists for nine points in that span including a big three assist effort in Saturday night’s win over the ‘Backs.
The Smoke Eaters put up a season-high 10 goals in Saturday night’s victory over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in their largest goal differential of the season. Trail hit double digits for the first time in about two seasons, last doing so on January 14th, 2017 in a 19-3 victory over the Surrey Eagles. The Smoke Eaters also had a strong performance on the power play, going 4-for-8 on the man advantage and have now scored via the power play in six of their last seven games.
The Penticton Vees enter Wednesday night’s contest with a 34-14-2-2 record and sit 1st in the Interior Division after a big win of their own on Saturday night, downing the Vernon Vipers by an 8-2 score at Kal Tire Place. Carson Kosobud scored his first two career BCHL goals with Evan McIntyre also tallying a pair of goals while Ty Pochipinski, Jack Lagerstrom, David Silye and Cassidy Bowes added singles. Jack LaFontaine turned aside 33 of the 35 shots thrown his way in his 27th win of the season.
Vees Leading Scorers:
James Miller (18-39-57)
Eric Linell (26-29-55)
David Silye (16-37-53)
Ryan Sandelin (25-19-44)
Massimo Rizzo (10-25-35)
Vees captain Massimo Rizzo missed a large chunk of the season due to an injury but the Burnaby, BC native has come back and scored over a point-per-game average in his 31 games played this season. The University of North Dakota commit rides a four-game point streak into Trail, collecting 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points in that span and is tied with James Miller for the team lead in power play assists with 18.
It’s been a good run of games for second-year forward Ryan Sandelin, who played in his 100th career regular season BCHL game on Saturday in Vernon. The Minnesota State-Mankato commit has collected a point in six of his last seven games, registering two goals and five assists for seven points in that span. The Hermantown, Minnesota product sits 2nd on the Vees in goal scoring with his 25 goals and is tied for 15th in the BCHL when it comes to finding the back of the net.
The Vees come into tonight’s matchup with the best goal differential in the BCHL at +53, ahead of the Prince George Spruce Kings who sit at +52. Penticton is second in the league to PG in goals against with 130 with goaltender Jack LaFontaine holding strong numbers amongst his fellow crease keepers, sitting 2nd in the league in goals against average at 2.24 and 2nd in save percentage at .920%.
The Smoke Eaters and Vees play in the final Welcome Wednesday of the season with a 7:00 PM puck drop at the Trail Memorial Centre. Tickets are available for purchase at the Smoke Eaters Main Office as well as at the door ahead of the opening face-off.
