Linden Marshall – 26 saves on the night.
At home against the Nanaimo Clippers on Friday night the Smokies, hoping to make it 5 wins in a row, found themselves down 3-0 at the 12:00 minute mark of the first period. A goaltender change at that point and a late goal in the period by Ross Armour started what looked like a successful comeback for the Orange & Black. After falling behind the Clippers 3-0 on goals by Nanaimo’s Sean Buchanan, Will LeNeave and Matt Kowalski, Ross Armour of the Smoke Eaters scored a power play goal at 19:18 of the first to narrow the lead to 3-1. Assisting on the goal were Joshua Laframboise and Luke Santerno.
At 8:22 of the second Trail’s Joshua Lamframboise made it 3-2 when he was fed a pass by Ross Armour, his 12th assist of the season.
Looking to come all the way back Trail tied the game at 5:42 of the third when Luke Santerno scored his 9th goal of the season, assisted on by Joshua Lamframboise and Captain, Connor Brown Maloski. The Smokies kept pressuring the Clippers, missing glorious opportunities to put the Smokies up 4-3, but at 14:58 of the third, Nanaimo’s Jake Harris snuffed out the Smokie comeback when he put his team ahead for good 4-3. Despite pulling their goaltender for an extra attacker the Smokies could not tie the score.
It was an evenly played game with both teams firing 31 shots on net. Goaltender, Linden Marshall played a crucial roll in the Smokie’s comeback attempt making 26 saves on 27 shots and was named third star of the game. Marshall replaced Zach Dyment in goal at the 12:00 mark of the first period. Joshua Lamframboise of the Smokies was named second star with a goal and 2 assists on the night. Jake Harris of the Clippers was named first star scoring the winning goal.
The Smokies were 1/2 on the power play while Nanaimo went 1/1.
Key cogs in the Smokie lineup, Kale Howarth and Blaine Caton were out of the Trail lineup with the flu giving affiliate player Brady Berger of the Grand Forks Border Bruins a chance to show his wares. Berger has 4 goals and 6 assists for the Border Buins this season.
The Smokies now have a week to rest before they meet the Vernon Vipers in a home-and-home series next weekend. They travel to Vernon on Friday night and return home on Saturday, October 22 to face the Vipers at the Cominco Arena. Game time on Saturday is 7:00 PM.
