Tasked with responding after back to back defeats last weekend the Smoke Eaters kicked off their four game home stand in style picking up a 7-5 over the Wenatchee Wild on Friday night at Cominco.
The Smoke Eaters maybe should have had a few more through the opening 20 minutes as they outshot the Wild 19-10, but strong goaltending on both sides had the Smoke Eaters and Wild tied at 1. Josh Schenk was the first to trigger the Smoke machines on Friday as the Smoke Eaters had 7 different players pick up goals on the night. Schenk would pick up the puck in right after his initial shot was blocked and line mate Ridge Dawson would shovel the loose puck to Schenk just outside the goal line where a couple of whacks were needed before the puck finally crossed the line just over five minutes into the game.
The Wild would answer as David Hejduk’s point shot made it through everyone and past Tisdale for the tying goal.
Jumping ahead to the second period a rollercoaster ride would ensue as the Smokies and Wild went back and forth trading goals. Trail native Judah Makway got things going as he would temporarily restore the Smoke Eaters lead with a shorthanded rocket to score his first BCHL goal!
Wenatchee would respond with a powerplay goal minutes later as Gabe Dombrowski used the Schenk method and whacked at the puck till it finally found its way past Tisdale who was holding his post. The Wild would then take a lead as captain Cade Littler picked the corner with a perfect wrist shot to beat the Smoke Eaters netminder and put the Wild up 3-2. The period rollercoaster ride wasn’t over there as Brady Hunter would pick up his first goal of the year after sustained pressure from the Smoke Eaters on a delayed penalty call! The Wild would respond again however with Garrett Syzdlowski batting the puck out of the air for give the Wild a 4-3 lead heading to the third.
The Smoke Eaters would turn the game around and do so quickly in the third as Nic Remissong would pick up his team leading 4th goal to tie the game at four after a beautiful dump in by Parsons and retrieval and pass from Hunter to set up the goal.
Four minutes later the Smoke Eaters would finally retake the lead and it was Mathieu Cobetto-Roy who picked up his first goal on home ice as a Smoke Eater went short side on Owen Millward to make it 5-4 Smoke Eaters with just over 10 minutes to play.
Wenathcee again responded and it’s was Littler who picked up his second of the night as he knocked home a lose puck through the crowd in front of Tisdale to make it 5-5. However the Smoke Eaters wouldn’t be deterred, as Jack Kurrle picked a heck of a time to score his first BCHL goal as the point shot from Even Bushy came free from Millward, where Kurrle was waiting to tap the puck across the line for a 6-5 Smoke Eater lead and the eventual game winner.
Bushy would add an empty net goal to seal the 7-5 win as the Smoke Eaters grab their first win on home ice this season and kick off their four game home stand in style. They’ll now quickly switch focus as the West Kelowna Warriors are up next as they come to Trail on Saturday night. Puck drop is 7pm as the Smoke Eaters look for back to back wins for the first time this season.
