The Smoke Eaters head into West Kelowna looking to turn the page and get back into the win column following their loss Saturday night in Merritt.
Season Series versus West Kelowna
Oct. 13 West Kelowna 5 at Trail 4 Final
Nov. 26 West Kelowna 7 at Trail 3 Final
Jan. 14 West Kelowna 0 at Trail 4 Final
Jan. 29 Trail 5 at West Kelowna 10 Final
Feb. 20 Trail at West Kelowna 6:00 pm PST
Mar. 4 West Kelowna at Trail 7:00 pm PST
The Smoke Eaters will look to get one back tonight in West Kelowna following their loss in Merritt the night before. The Smoke Eaters fired 51 shots on net on Saturday but couldn’t find more than three goals while the Centennials capitalized on their chances, two of them being 2-on-1’s. If the Smoke Eaters are to be successful tonight in West Kelowna they won’t be able to play such an open game like they did against Merritt. The Smoke Eaters have had success against the Warriors when it comes to scoring early, they had a 2-0 lead inside eight minutes the last time they played the Warriors. If the Smoke Eaters can take and early lead and then sit back and commit defensively, they could pull out a much needed victory. With the weapons at the Warriors disposal the Smoke Eaters will not want to get into another barn burner scenario as they’ll try to keep things close. As for goaltending the Smoke Eaters can go one of two ways with either Owen Albers or give Ethan Shebansky his first BCHL start.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers
Hunter (20-27-47)
Michaelis (23-16-39)
Lagerback (16-20-36)
Disher (9-21-30)
Cunningham (7-19-26)
The Warriors are also coming off a loss as they come into Sunday’s game. The Cranbrook Bucks stopped in on Saturday night and handed the Warriors a 6-3 defeat. The Warriors have now lost two in a row on the weekend, as they lost in Penticton on Friday night 3-1. It’s the third game in three nights for the Warriors so they’ll have to dig deep ahead of tonight’s game. The Warriors now have the Bucks just three points back of then in the middle of the Interior Conference standings, as the Warriors sit fourth, seven points back of Prince George and three up on Cranbrook in what is shaping up to be a possible first round match for the Warriors. The last time the Warriors hosted the Smoke Eaters it was a 10-5 third period runaway for the home side, who will be looking to do the same thing again tonight.
Warriors leading scorers
Trudeau (25-25-50)
Cristall (21-19-40)
Bar-Lev-Wise (18-22-40)
Jugnauth (6-31-37)
Joughin (4-27-31)
The Smoke Eaters look to snap the slide they find themselves on as they make their final stop of the weekend in West Kelowna. Puck drop is at 6pm from Royal LePage place and can be watched on BCHLTV.ca. There will be no away broadcast again tonight.
