It’s game three of whats been the closest played series of round one so far, as the series switches to Prince George for games three and four.
Interior Quarter Final
Trail leads 2-0
Game 1 Feb 28 Prince George (1) at Trail (2)
Game 2 Feb 29 Prince George (1) at Trail (2) OT1
Game 3 Mar 2 Trail at Prince George 7:00 PM PST
Game 4 Mar 3 Trail at Prince George 7:00 PM PST
* Game 5 Mar 5 Trail at Prince George 7:00 PM PST
* Game 6 Mar 7 Prince George at Trail 7:00 PM PST
* Game 7 Mar 8 Prince George at Trail 7:00 PM PST
After back to back 2-1 victories the Smoke Eaters head to Prince George with a 2-0 series lead and a chance to close out round one on the road. The Smoke Eaters posted a shutout in September when they made their lone trip to the BCHL’s most northern team. But now with a very different team and a heated rivalry starting to build between the Spruce Kings and Smoke Eaters things could be very different tonight. After playing the OT hero on Saturday night Owen Ozar and the rest of his teammates will try and put themselves into a position to sweep the series. Though the Rolling Mix Concrete Arena is a smaller ice surface than the Smoke Eaters are used to, the Smokies will have to make adjustments regardless now that they are in enemy territory. Expect another close game with Prince George having success, for the most part, shutting down Trails elite offence.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Johnson (1-2-3)
Ozar (1-2-3)
Lapointe (1-1-2)
Osadick (1-0-1)
Sweeney (0-1-1)
If the Spruce Kings weren’t deflated after Friday nights loss they probably were after Saturday’s. While PG head coach Alex Evin was happy with how his team played on Friday and even more so on Saturday he’ll know that its desperation time for his hockey club. Evin said pregame on Saturday that “You’re not in trouble in a series till you lose at home”. As the series switches to PG for a possible three games he’ll know he needs to protect home ice against one of the better road teams in the BCHL. Both Spruce Kings goals in this series have come on the power play. They’ll look for more of that success tonight. As much as the Spruce Kings need to win on Monday night they can’t deviate from their game plan that has given them opportunities to win both games 1 & 2. A low scoring tightly played game has given the Spruce Kings that chance. Expect more of the same with a chance of a few risks from Prince George if they are trailing late in this game.
Bochen (1-1-2)
Williams (1-0-1)
Waite (0-1-1)
Welsh (0-1-1)
It’s the must watch series of round one. Can the Smoke Eaters take a strangle hold on this series or will the home team continue to win on home ice? Puck drop is at 7pm from Rolling Mix Concrete Arena. Catch the game on HockeyTV or Mixlr with Ben Phillips starting with the pregame show at 6:50pm.
