The Trail Smoke Eaters head south of the border for a weekend set against the Wenatchee Wild with four points against their own division up for grabs. It will be the Smoke Eaters first trip to Wenatchee since the opening month of the season.
Regular season verse Wenatchee
September 20th @ Town Toyota Centre 3-1L (BOXSCORE)
October 30th @ Trail Memorial Centre 5-1W (BOXCSORE)
December 11th @ Trail Memorial Centre 3-1 W (BOXSCORE)
January 24th @ Town Toyota Centre 7:05pm
January 25th @ Town Toyota Centre 7:05pm
January 31st @ Trail Memorial Centre 7pm
The Smoke Eaters are coming off a three game week where they took all six points, with two wins against Merritt and a 5-1 win over Vernon. It was Braden Costello who scored the game winner in the Smoke Eaters last outing as they beat the Centennials 4-3 last Saturday. Since the Smoke Eaters last visit to Wenatchee in September, they have gone a remarkable 19-3-1-1 against Interior division opponents, with a 19-7-2-1 record on the season against their own division. In the month of January they are 6-1-0, all against Interior teams, with three of four games against the Wild to finish the month. Crucial points and valuable experience against teams they might face with a deep playoff run in their sights. The Smoke Eaters have gotten a wide variety of scoring over the last 7 games with more than just Kent Johnson, Owen Ozar and Michael Colella scoring the goals. While the trio still lead the BCHL in scoring, the pressure on them to lead the team every game has lightened slightly with goals coming from the defenceman and all four lines. This all while the power play has hit a slight bump in production. The chances are being created the puck hasn’t found the net while on a man advantage for the last four games. Something they’ll try and change this weekend with a 22% completion rate against the Wild over the last three meetings.
Last ten games: 8-2-0
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Johnson (33-50-83)
Ozar (20-37-57)
Colella (20-34-54)
Lapointe (16-28-44)
DiMurro (6-27-33)
The Wenatchee Wild are coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Surrey Eagles as they continue their four game home-stand. After starting the year so strong the Wild have leveled off and now find themselves battling for home ice in the post season. The Wild currently sit fifth in the Interior with 48 points, one back of Salmon Arm and three of Vernon. The Wild, comfortably in fifth, have struggled against their own division this year. At 14-12-3-1 they sit just above .500 hockey against interior division opppenents. Unlike the Smoke Eaters since September that record has gotten worse. Since the 20th of September Wenatchee is 10-12-3-0 against the Interior. Historically the Wild have done well against the Smoke Eaters in their own barn with a 7-1-0-1 record over the last five seasons.
Last ten games: 6-4-0
Wild leading scorers:
Cafarelli (16-21-37)
Adams (18-18-36)
Chorske (16-16-32)
Young (7-25-32)
Bavaro (8-17-25)
It’s a weekend doubleheader in Wenatchee as the Smoke Eaters look to continue their hot play to start 2020. Make sure to catch the broadcast with Ben Phillips starting at 6:50pm on HockeyTV and Mixlr.
