It was a low scoring affair as the Smoke Eaters battled back from an early deficit to win 2-1 Friday night at Cominco Arena.
The Warriors, who were coming off a lopsided 9-1 loss on Wednesday night to the Vees, came out firing and were rewarded with an early goal. The North West Hawks product Hayden Gelbard jumped on the loose puck at the top of the circle after David Vieten stripped the puck from a Smoke Eaters defenceman. Gelbard turned and shot the puck under the blocker arm of Donovan Buskey to give the Warriors the lead. Buskey bounced back after the early goal with this outstanding save!
The Smoke Eaters pretty much dominated from the second period on, out shooting the Warriors 27-9 in the final two periods. Liam Freeborn would get his first of the preseason following the media timeout as Ghirardosi jumped on a rebound fed Kent Johnson who found a wide open Freeborn in front of the net
The Smoke Eaters then continued to pour on the pressure throughout out the third and got rewarded with a late powerplay goal courtesy of Owen Ozar. Johnson broke in and threw the puck to the crease where it bounced its way to Ozar who tucked home the loose puck to give the Smoke Eaters the lead and the eventual game winner.
The Smoke Eaters were 4/4 on the Penaltykill and went 1/6 on the Powerplay.
These teams will get right back at it Saturday night in West Kelowna as the Smoke Eaters will look for the weekend sweep vs their interior division rivals. Puck drop has been switched back to 7pm in West K.
You can catch the game with Ben Phillips on HockeyTV and Mixlr starting at 6:50.
