Not much changed in the Interior Division standings after Friday night with all the teams vying for that second place spot involved in overtime games. West Kelowna defeated Merritt 3-2 in O/T, Vernon and Salmon Arm played through two O/T periods and fought to a 4-4 draw while the Trail Smoke Eaters lost in the O/T 4-3 to the Cowichan Valley Capitals with Cowichan scoring just 41 seconds into the first O/T period for the win.
The Vernon Vipers and Trail Smoke Eaters are tied with 34 points with Vernon in second spot and Trail in third. Merritt Centennials are in fourth place with 31 points, Salmon Arm Silverbacks are in fifth place with 30 points and West Kelowna brings of the rear with 29 points.
The Capitals jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 3:56 of the first period on a goal by Trevor Ayre. The Smokies Andre Ghantous scored his second of the season at 10:08 to tie the game at 1. Blaine Caton and Mitchell Stapley assisted on the goal. Trail made it 2-1 at 11:04 when captain Connor Brown Maloski scored his 8th of the season on a feed from Ethan Martini. At 12:24 Cowichan evened the score at 2 when Trevor Ayre scored his second goal of the game. Kale Howarth scored a power play marker, his 18th of the season at 18:48 of the period to put the Smokies up 3-2. Connor Brown Maloski and Mitch Stapley assisted on the goal.
Cowichan Valley scored the only goal of the second period at 17:25 to tie the game at 3. The teams played to a scoreless third period and in overtime Mitchell Stapley was robbed close in by Capital’s goaltender Adam Marcoux and ex-Smokie Max Newton takes the puck on an end to end rush and scores to win the game for the Capitals. He scored at the 41 second mark of the first O/T period.
First star of the game was Smokie captain, Connor Brown Maloski, Trevor Ayre of the Capitals was named second star and Mitchell Stapley of the Smokies was named third star. Fortis Energy Player of the Game was Troy Ring of the Smokies.
Assistant Coach of the Smokies, Curtis Toneff, commented, “we had a strong first period took a few bad penalties in the second period and let our foot off the gas pedal.” “Our power play wasn’t good tonight and killed our momentum at times.” “We didn’t play a full 60 minutes tonight and needed to bring it every shift and I’m not sure some of our guys did that tonight.” “Our special teams definitely let us down tonight.”
The Smokies are now on the road for their next two games, in Vernon on Saturday night and then Penticton on Wednesday. They return home for a game against Vernon on Saturday, December 17, their final home game before Xmas break. Game time is 7:00 PM and sees the return of the “Underwear Band.” It will also be the Teddy Bear toss night. All fans should bring a teddy bear to the game and when Trail Scores their first goal the bears are thrown on the ice.
