Lucas Lemieux lit the lamp at 4:03 of overtime to give the Trail Smoke Eaters a 4-3 win over West Kelowna in a 64-minute battle between these two Interior West BCHL rivals at Cominco Arena.
The Warriors were looking to bounce back from a 9-0 opening night loss in Cranbrook and came out with energy and determination, outshooting the home side 8-4 in the early going, but a solid start by Smokies goalie Teagan Kendrick kept them at bay.
Friday night’s first star Jason Stefanek opened the scoring with less than two minutes to go in the first period with a searing snapper to the top corner from the right wing circle to give Trail the lead.
However a five-minute boarding penalty and game misconduct to Smokies 6’6″ winger Dylan Lariviere with four seconds remaining in the opening frame changed the game.
The Warriors tied the contest just 32-seconds into the second period with Jack Pridham banging home a cross-crease pass and Callum Highes gave West Kelowna the lead about four minutes later with a major-league shot from the right-wing circle that went in off the far post.
Jack Ziliotto would equalize to the delight of the Trail crowd with a high-riser into the top of the net on a Smokies power play with just over seven minutes remaining in the middle frame.
But again, the Warriors would reply just past the 17-minute mark as rookie Laz Giardina was in the right place at the right time to rip home a rebound to restore the visitors lead.
The Smokies came close to tying it moments later as Stefanek battled through the Warriors defense, caught up with the rolling puck and almost tapped it past Warriors netminder Dawson Labre who also stymied Ridge Dawson on the rebound.
The Smokies puck stopper stole the spotlight early in the third period as Kendrick made several big saves to keep his team within a goal of tying the terrific game.
West Kelowna’s defense tightened until Trail defenseman Noah Ziskie found an open spot while sneaking in from the point and rifled a low shot into the far corner with just 1:56 remaining.
The goalies stood tall early in overtime. Kendrick made a great save on a point-blank shot, and moments later, Labre robbed Ziliotto with a great glove snag as he cruised in all alone after a breakaway pass from Lemieux, setting the stage for the Smokies defenseman’s heroics.
Lemieux circled the entire West Kelowna zone before burying the backhand winner just inside the far post.
The Warriors outshot Trail 37-30 while going 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Smokies were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
Trail will take a 2-0 record on the road next weekend for their first venture to Alberta.
They take on Spruce Grove Friday, Sherwood Park Saturday and bounce into Brooks for a late Sunday afternoon matinee against the unbeaten Bandits.
All three games can be heard on Mixlr and watched on FloHockey.
