The Trail Smoke Eaters suffer their first regulation loss in their last nine games as the Clippers take the second meeting of the year 4-1.
In the first the Smoke Eaters and Clippers traded chances but it was a breakaway for Liam Ryan at 7:03 to open the scoring for the Clippers. A play that came out of nowhere allowed the Clippers the break and Ryan beat Terness to open the scoring. The Smoke Eaters had a few chances late thanks to a power play but weren’t able to muster anything past Jordan Naylor.
The second period continued to trouble the Smoke Eaters as Tyler Ghirardosi and Jameson Murray would both pick up injuries that ultimately had them leave the game. The Smoke Eaters would fall two goals behind as Tyler Williams would get one past Logan Terness after extended offensive zone pressure lead to the 2-0 goal. It was the same for the third as the Smokies got trapped in their own end with a mixed line. The Clippers took advantage as Devon Mussio scored his first of the year. The Clippers took a 3-0 lead to the 2nd intermission and didn’t look back.
The Smokies started strong in the third but weren’t able to beat Naylor till the later part of the third. Not before they fell to a 4-0 deficit as Joshua Bourne poked one past Terness after a scramble with the Smoke Eaters down a man. Trail would break the shutout bid with a power play goal of their own as Clifton put one under Naylor making it 4-1. The Smoke Eaters pushed after that goal but with a shortened bench due to injuries couldn’t find the goals they needed.
The Smoke Eaters will reset and get ready for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs Sunday afternoon in Campbell River for a 2pm puck drop.
