Kent Johnson and Michael Colella each had three point nights while Logan Ternees picked up his first career BCHL shutout in a 5-0 win over the Bulldogs on Friday night.
The Smoke Eaters started strong, and with the Bulldogs having to dress two emergency backup goaltenders, they took exception firing 40 shots at Carlos Siso. The Smoke Eaters got an early power play and made no mistake with some great passing that lead to the goal. Cody Schiavon took the shot from the point, Colella found the rebound and some how got it to Johnson who also somehow got the puck into the net. Johnson’s 41st of the year would stand as the game winner.
The Smoke Eaters kept up the pressure in the second period. Powell Connor made it 2-0 on an end to end rush as he left a line of Bulldogs in his dust as he burst up the ice. The Bulldogs then pushed back getting plenty of opportunities but Terness stopped all of them en-route to his 28 save shutout. The Smoke Eaters then scored what seemed like the real game winner. With the Bulldogs pushing to get back into the game, Colella would score his first of two on the night with a power play goal at 14:34 of the second period.
The Smoke Eaters, who improve to 25-1-1 when leading after two periods would add two more in the third. Colella had his breakaway attempt find the back of the net while Walker Erickson tallied his sixth of the year to round out the night at 5-0. The Smoke Eaters extended their run of play on home ice with their 20th win of the season and 12th consecutively. Terness who was named the first star is now one away from tying the regular season wins record by a Smoke Eaters goaltender which sits at 27. Terness is already the youngest goaltender in the teams 25 year BCHL history with 20 plus wins. Johnson who had three points now sits at 97 for the season as he was named the third star of tonights game. Colella was the second star while Connor took home the Energy player of the game.
The Smoke Eaters will look to protect home ice once again as they host the newly named BCHL regular season champs Coquitlam Express on Saturday night.
