It’s 2020, odd occurrences and unique events have become the norm and that was the case Saturday night inside Cominco arena.
As the Smoke Eaters and the Bucks began just their second preseason game, both sides were bracing for the sparks to fly after last weeks 7-4 goal fest. That’s not what we got. The game started fast with odd man rushes on either end of the ice as Cayden Hamming was forced into some big saves early. While his counterpart Jacob Zacharewicz matched his effort with a few big saves of his own. The Bucks would open the scoring on a goal by Christian Lowe just as a Smoke Eaters penalty expired. That would be the last action of the first period. As with 2:35 left on the clock both teams were sent to the dressing room as rink staff attended to a significant ice malfunction in front of the penalty boxes.
After a lengthy delay the teams returned to play the final minutes of the period before a short break, where they then switched sides and began the second period. Again out of the gate Cranbrook took it to the Smoke Eaters throwing everything at the Smokies net. The Bucks would outshoot the Smoke Eaters 14-5 in the middle frame. However they didn’t escape unmarked as Chase Dafoe was left alone in front of Zacharewicz to make the game 1-1 late. The Smoke Eaters had another late chance but couldn’t convert. In the third both teams came out for a short spell before the game ultimately had to be called off due to the ongoing ice issues, that this time couldn’t be patched.
The Bucks finished the game outshooting the Smoke Eaters 30-18. The Smoke Eaters went 6/6 on the penalty kill and 0/3 on the Powerplay.
These teams will go at it again next Friday in the first official game of the Kootenay Cup contest. Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm on October 16th. The game will be available on HockeyTV and Mixlr.
