Preview: Vees host Trail looking to widen division standings

Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (25-9-2-2) won their third straight game Wednesday with a come from behind 4-3 win over the Merritt Centennials. Tonight the Trail Smoker Eaters (25-13-3-0) are in Penticton for the first time this year, with the Vees just one point ahead of them in the Interior Division. Despite outshooting the Centennials heavily through the first 36 minutes of Wednesday’s game, the Vees found themselves trailing 3-1. Marcus Mitchell and Taylor Ward then scored 68 seconds apart to tie the game after 40 minutes. Owen Sillinger scored the eventual game-winning goal early in the third, his 20th of the year, as the Vees held on to improve to 4-0 against Merritt this season. After losing eight of nine games heading into the Christmas break, the Smoke Eaters have turned things around with five wins in their last six games. The team was on a three-game road trip to the Lower Mainland last weekend, winning in Coquitlam and Langley before dropping a 5-4 overtime decision to the Surrey Eagles. Kale Howarth, who wasn’t with the team for seven games leading into the break, has returned to Trail and played an impactful role in their recent success. In six....