PHOTO: Garrett James/BCHL
SEPTEMBER 21st, 2018
CHILLIWACK, B.C. – The Trail Smoke Eaters suffered their second straight loss at the Bauer BCHL Showcase as they dropped a tight-checking 2-1 decision to the Powell River Kings on Friday morning at the Prospera Centre in Chilliwack.
Kent Johnson scored to give the Smoke Eaters the lead in the opening period but two 2nd period goals from the Kings helped them to the one-goal victory. Tanner Marshall made 24 saves on 26 shots in his first start of the season as he kept the Smoke Eaters in the game but they could not find any scoring and came away from Chilliwack with no points.
In a bit of a back and forth 1st period, the Smoke Eaters were the ones to get on the board first and get ahead late in the opening frame. Braeden Tuck sent a pass to the goal line for Johnson, who wrapped the puck out and past the blocker side of goaltender Mitch Adamyk for his second goal of the season at the 17:21 mark of the frame.
Tanner Marshall turned aside all 10 shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes of action, including a couple of timely penalty killing saves to keep the Smoke Eaters in the lead while Mitch Adamyk made 7 saves on 8 shots in the opening frame of play.
The Kings got the game tied in quick order to begin the 2nd period as just 1:01 into the frame, Ryan Brushett was the beneficiary of a puck passed out from behind the net and off the side of the goal before getting to him in the slot for a shot through the legs of Marshall to even the score at 1-1.
After a bit of back-and-forth in the middle stanza, Powell River took their first lead of the game at the 11:22 mark off of a bit of a fortunate bounce to the slot. Nathan Kelly had his shot from the left point bounce off of a body to the slot as Liam Lytton whipped the puck in through the legs of Marshall for the go-ahead marker and a 2-1 Powell River Kings lead.
The 3rd period saw the Smoke Eaters outshoot the Kings by a 10-7 margin and had a few good looks on goal but couldn’t squeeze anything past Adamyk as the Smoke Eaters fell in back-to-back games at the Bauer BCHL Showcase.
Tanner Marshall turned aside 24 of the 26 shots he faced in his first game of the season, resulting in his first loss of the season while Mitch Adamyk stopped 23 of the 24 shots thrown his way for his 4th win of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 2-1 Kings
SHOTS ON GOAL: 26-24 Kings
SMOKE EATERS PP: 1/4
SMOKE EATERS PK: 3/3
3 STARS:
1) Nathan Kelly (0-2-2)
2) Ryan Brushett (1-0-1)
3) Tanner Marshall (24 saves on 26 shots)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Kyle Kawamura (0-0-0)
The Smoke Eaters (3-2-0-1) return home for a pair of games beginning on Friday night as they host the Island Division’s Alberni Valley Bulldogs (2-3-0-0). Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM at the Trail Memorial Centre with tickets available at the Smoke Eaters Main Office.
