Coming off back-to-back wins against Interior division rivals the West Kelowna Warriors, the Smoke Eaters host another Interior team Wednesday night in the Wenatchee Wild.
Regular Season vs Wenatchee
September 20th @ Town Toyota Centre 3-1L (BOXSCORE)
October 30th @ Trail Memorial Centre 7pm
December 11th @ Trail Memorial Centre 7pm
January 24th @ Town Toyota Centre 7:05pm
January 25th @ Town Toyota Centre 7:05pm
January 31st @Trail Memorial Centre 7pm
The Smoke Eaters (11-6-2) are coming into tonight’s game full of confidence, something they weren’t high on the last time these teams met on September 20th. At that time the Smokies were still trying to figure things out, but following a 3-1 loss to the Wild, turned their season around. With the best record in the league over the last ten games at 8-1-1, the Smoke Eaters would love nothing more than another strong performance before this weekends tilt with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. The Smokies are coming off another big performance from not just their top line, but the entire team, who got in on the scoring Saturday night vs the Warriors. The trio however on Kent Johnson, Mike Colella and Corey Clifton were dynamic and combined for 16 points on the night. The performance earned Johnson his second Player of the Week award and had Colella and Clifton right behind him with honourable mentions. Tonight they’ll need to solve Wild goaltender Daniel Chenard who was stellar in the Wild’s 3-1 win over the Smokies back in September. The Smoke Eaters will try and distance themselves from Vernon and Wenatchee who sit four points behind the Smokies for third in the division, who each have games in hand.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Johnson (13-24-37)
Colella (12-21-33)
Ozar (9-11-20)
DiMurro (4-12-16)
Schiavon (4-9-13)
The Wenatchee Wild (9-7-1-1) head north of the border after a dramatic weekend at home saw them drop both games to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Following a three game stretch the saw the Wild get back to back shutouts and outscored their opponents 15-3, the Silverbacks came to town and put 8 past the Wild on Friday night in an 8-5 thriller at the Town Toyata Centre. The Saturday night game was a lot tamer in a 4-2 loss to the Backs. Despite the high scoring loss the Wild are still on a run where they have proved they can put the puck of the net, scoring 22 goals in their last five games while allowing 15. Much of the Wild’s success though can be attributed to their power play, which sits first in the BCHL at 25.6%. Discipline will be key for either team as the Smoke Eaters sit third at 22% on the power play. It very well could come down to who’s penalty kill is better against two high powered power play units.
Wenatchee Wild leading scorers
Cafarelli (9-7-16)
Chorske (6-9-15)
Young (3-12-15)
Adams (9-5-14)
Dorsey (2-10-12)
Puck drop is set for 7pm at Cominco Arena as the Smoke Eaters look to even up the season series against the Wild. The pre-game show with Ben Phillips and Rob Squires starts at 6:50 with coaches interviews on HockeyTV and Mixlr. Tickets for tonight’s game are $14 for adults, $5 for youth and kids 12 and under get in free.
