PHOTO: Mike Hockley
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 19th, 2018
CHILLIWACK, B.C. – The Trail Smoke Eaters dropped their second straight game as they fell by a 5-2 score to the Mainland Division’s Chilliwack Chiefs on Friday night at the Trail Memorial Centre.
Kevin Wall and Ethan Bowen each score in the 1st and 2nd period and 23 saves from goaltender Mathieu Caron helped the Chiefs to their fourth straight victory while the Smoke Eaters suffered their second straight setback with a 5-2 loss on home ice.
The Chiefs got the upper hand in the early going as they opened the scoring at the 3:41 mark of the 1st period with Ethan Bowen putting the visitors ahead. Skyler Brind’Amour took a pass from his own zone and raced in on a 2-on-0 from the right side and backhanded a pass for Bowen at the blocker side as he beat Smoke Eaters goaltender Adam Marcoux for a 1-0 Chiefs lead.
Exactly seven minutes later at the 10:41 mark, the Chiefs doubled their lead with the league’s leading goal scorer Kevin Wall finding the back of the net courtesy of a 5-on-3 power play. Wall got a pass at the top of the right face-off circle from Brind’Amour at the goal line and slapped a shot past the blocker side of Marcoux for his BCHL-leading 12th goal of the season and a 2-0 Chilliwack lead.
Trail had a response just over two minutes later at the 12:45 mark as Carter Jones got the Smoke Eaters on the score board. After a Chilliwack turnover in their own zone, Jones raced off the bench to hold the puck inside the zone and moved to the right face-off circle before firing a wrist shot past the blocker side of Chiefs netminder Mathieu Caron for his 4th goal of the season and cut the deficit to one goal and a 2-1 Chiefs lead.
Chilliwack came out in the 2nd period and extended their lead back to two goals with Wall collecting his second of the game at the 7:49 mark of the middle stanza. Harrison Blaisdell worked his way in on a 3-on-2 rush and found the trailer in Wall, who snapped a shot past the glove side of Marcoux for his second of the game and a 3-1 Chilliwack lead.
The Chiefs pushed their lead to three goals at the 12:53 mark of the 2nd period as Bowen registered his second goal of the contest courtesy of a power play. Bowen worked his way into the offensive zone down the right wing and cut behind the defense before driving to the goal and sliding the puck past the blocker side of Marcoux for a 4-1 Chiefs advantage.
Kent Johnson got the Smoke Eaters back within a pair of goals at the 16:40 mark of the middle period as he took a pass from Braeden Tuck on the left wing and dragged to the slot before beating Caron through the legs for his 7th goal of the season to get the game to a 4-2 Chiefs lead heading into the final period of play.
The 3rd period didn’t see much in the way of chances with the Smoke Eaters having a pair of power play opportunities that they were unable to capitalize on before Cole Donhauser found the back of the empty net with 12 second remaining to put the game on ice and give Chilliwack a 5-2 victory.
Adam Marcoux turned aside 29 of the 33 shots he faced in the game in his 6th loss of the season while Mathieu Caron stopped 23 of the 25 shots thrown his way for his 13th victory of the season.
FINAL SCORE: 5-2 Chiefs
SHOTS ON GOAL: 34-25 Chiefs
SMOKE EATERS PP: 0/5
SMOKE EATERS PK: 3/5
3 STARS:
1) Kevin Wall (2-0-2)
2) Ethan Bowen (2-0-2)
3) Adam Marcoux (29 saves on 33 shots)
Fortis Energy Player of the Game: Kent Johnson (1-0-1)
ATTENDANCE: 1,864
The Smoke Eaters (7-5-2-1) remain on home ice as they host their first Retro Night of the season, wearing vintage jerseys from the Smoke Eaters 1930’s championship teams as they take on the West Kelowna Warriors (6-7-0-1) at the Trail Memorial Centre. Puck drop is slated for 7:00 PM with tickets available at the Smoke Eaters Main Office.
