A high-tempo attack by the Crusaders took advantage of a slow start by the Smokies, jumping out to a 4-0 first period lead, en route to a 7-1 win in Sherwood Park.
The highest scoring team in the league opened a quick 2-0 lead on a pair of odd man rushes with Lucas Brennan scoring on a shot from the right wing at 2:36 and Christian Chouha getting the first of his two goals on a forehand-to-backhand move and shot into the top of the net less than a minute later.
Both goals came during a 4-on-4 situation after offsetting penalties.
The Crusaders made it 3-0 about 10 minutes later when the league’s point-leading defenseman Connor Gengle tapped in a two-on-one, give-and-go play with Poul Anderson.
Two minutes later, Kale Dach pushed in a puck that fell in behind Smokies goalie Teagan Kendrick after he made the original save.
Ryan Parker came in to replace Kendrick and was brilliant, making 10 stops throughout the rest of the period as the Smokies were outshot 20-5 in the opening 20 minutes, spending much of the final ten minutes killing penalties.
Parker’s 29 save effort included some highlight reel saves.
Trail turned in a much better second period but gave up the only two goals of the middle frame.
A pass just inside the Sherwood Park blueline hit one of the linesmen and the Crusaders capitalized on the resulting rush.
Chouha snapped in a shot at 11:26 and Jeremy Loranger followed it up with a rebound goal just over four minutes later.
Christian Kim’s 20th goal of the season on an early third period power play got the Smokies on board, but a neutral zone turnover saw Masun Fleese score the game’s final goal on a breakaway with less than nine minutes remaining in what was a physical, penalty-filled third period as tempers flared.
Sherwood Park outshot the Smokies 42-24, but Trail killed off all seven Crusaders power plays including a pair of 5-on-3’s. The Smokies were 1-for-6 with the man advantage.
Trail returns home Wednesday to host Cranbrook, looking to end a run of three straight losses, with Nanaimo coming to Cominco Arena on Friday. Good seats are still available. Fans are encouraged to Skip the Line & Reserve Online at Tickets.TrailSmokeEaters.com.
