Coming off a 6-4 win on Tuesday night the Smoke Eaters will look to keep up their strong play at home going against the Vernon Vipers.
Season series verse Vernon:
October 19th @ Kal Tire Place 3-2 OTL (BOXSCORE)
November 8th @ Trail Memorial Centre 5-2 W (BOXSCORE)
November 9th @ Trail Memorial Centre 3-2W (BOXSCORE)
December 18th @ Kal Tire Place 4-1W (BOXSCORE)
January 18th @ Trail Memorial Centre 7pm
February 9th @ Kal Tire Place 2pm
Coming off Tuesday nights win the Smoke Eaters will look to stay perfect on home ice to start 2020. The Smokies have turned Cominco Arena into a fortress this season with just one loss on home ice since the end of September. Tonight they’ll try and make it seven straight wins on home ice against a tough Vipers team. The last time Vernon made the trip to the West Kootenays the Smoke Eaters took both games on the weekend winning 5-2 and 3-2. Trail have also won three of the four meetings against the Vipers, with the one loss an overtime defeat on October 19th. The Smoke Eaters once again proved their ability to out score their problems on Tuesday night. It wasn’t the guys you’d usually think of either, as the Smoke Eaters got key goals from their depth guys. A great sign as we inch closer to the postseason. While credit is due to the Centennials for playing a tough game, the Smoke Eaters know they can be better in their own end, and they’ll have to be tonight against Vernon. Kent Johnson, Owen Ozar and Michael Colella continue to set personal bests for themselves with Johnson now at 80 points.
Last ten games: 8-2-0-0
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Johnson (31-49-80)
Ozar (20-34-54)
Colella (18-32-50)
Lapointe (15-28-43)
Ghirardosi (18-14-32)
The Vernon Vipers find themselves in third place in the Interior Division with two games in hand on the Smoke Eaters. The Vipers, who have 49 points through 43 games, are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to the Penticton Vees on Wednesday night. The Vipers seem to have found their scoring touch to start 2020 with 25 goals in six games. Vernon has the fifth lowest goals against in the league, while also having one of the lowest goals scored among teams in a playoff position. The Vipers have been helped along by Matt Kowalski who leads the team in points with 45. He’s coming off a seven point weekend that featured a ‘Michigan’ goal against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs last Saturday. In four games against the Smoke Eaters Kowalski has put up three goals. The Vipers were active at the deadline picking up West Kelowna forward Max Bulawka to help them down the middle. The centerman has played just one game so far for the Vipers and scored in his debut.
Last ten games: 4-5-1
Vipers leading scorers:
Kowalski (23-22-45)
Holt (17-17-34)
Marritt (12-22-34)
Tanaka-Campbell (5-18-23)
MacDonald (13-7-20)
It’s the final regular season meeting in Trail as the Vipers look to get back in the win column, while the Smoke Eaters will look for another two points against their own division. Puck drop is at 7pm from the Trail Memorial Centre. As always you can catch the game starting at 6:50pm on HockeyTV or Mixlr with Ben Phillips and Rob Squires.
