The Smoke Eaters head back to Cranbrook on Wednesday night looking to get back in the win column, for what could be their tenth win of the season as they take on the Bucks.
Season series verse Cranbrook:
Oct. 8 Trail 3 at Cranbrook 5 Final
Oct. 9 Cranbrook 1 at Trail 3 Final
Nov. 20 Trail 4 at Cranbrook 3 Final OT
Dec. 1 Trail at Cranbrook 7:00 pm MST
Dec. 17 Cranbrook at Trail 7:00 pm PST
Dec. 18 Trail at Cranbrook 7:00 pm MST
Dec. 31 Trail at Cranbrook 7:00 pm MST
Jan. 1 Cranbrook at Trail 5:00 pm PST
The Smoke Eaters and Bucks will see a lot of each other over the next month with 5 of the Smoke Eaters next 9 games against the Bucks, as the season series wraps up with a January first matchup in Trail. The Smoke Eaters will be looking to bounce back from their loss last Friday to the Warriors that say things fall apart late, leading to a 7-3 scoreline. The being said the Smoke Eaters and Warriors played some of the best hockey of the year through 35 minutes before the Warroirs pulled away. Despite the loss there is some encouraging factors the Smoke Eaters will once again take away from the loss, the fact that they continue to create chances, they constantly look dangerous off the rush and they once again outshot their opponent. Those were all things that lead to the win two weeks ago when the Smoke Eaters took a 4-3 OT in Cranbrook and they’ll need to be prevalent again tonight if the Smoke Eaters want to bring two points home with them.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Disher (5-11-16)
Hunter (4-12-16)
Michaelis (11-4-15)
Lagerback (7-7-14)
Cunningham (4-9-13)
The Bucks in their lone game of the week last week saw them earn a 2-1 win on the road against the West Kelowna Warriors a night after the Warriors beat the Smoke Eaters. The Bucks have proved once again their ability to shut the door and play a simple game when facing opponents that aren’t just higher than them in the standings but have proved they have the ability to score goals and lots of them. With those back to back wins against Salmon Arm a few weeks ago where they allowed just one goal in two games and the game last Saturday against the Warriors. The Bucks are showing the league what Smoke Eater fans got a first hand look at over the last year. That being their are no easy goals against this Cranbrook team. The 2-1 win for Ryan Donald and company is surely a big confidence booster after their previous weekend saw them lose to the Smoke Eaters and then 7-1 to the Vees on the Sunday afternoon. The Bucks will look for a little revenge to even up the season series against the Smoke Eaters, who currently lead the series 2-1.
Bucks leading scorers:
Dyck (9-13-22)
Quinn (7-8-15)
Pfoh (5-9-14)
Johnson (8-3-11)
Hjartarson (6-5-11)
It’s the first of three road games of the week for the Smoke Eaters and it all gets started tonight, in Cranbrook as the Smoke Eaters and Bucks faceoff in another Kootenay clash. Puck drop is 6pm PST, 7pm MST and can be found on BCHLTV or fans can listen live on the Smoke Eaters Mixlr, starting ten minutes prior to puck drop with the Teck Trail Pregame report with Ben Phillips.
