Game Report | BLA at TRA
The Trail Smoke Eaters combined a skilled, high-paced attack with outstanding and timely goaltending and fed off an enthusiastic hometown crowd the close out the the first half of their 2024-25 season with a 7-2 win over Blackfalds.
The Cominco Arena crowd of 1,479 showered the ice with wrapped toques, mitts, teddy bears and stuffies just shy of the four minute mark when Drew Anastasio stuffed in the rebound of a Judah Makway shot, ending a wild goalmouth scramble to give Trail the early lead.
However, over the next ten minutes, the Bulldogs outshot the Smokies 9-1, but goalie Teagan Kendrick was brilliant, making two miraculous back-to-back saves on point blank shots by Luke Norcross. The second save saw the 6’4″ tender stretch his left leg to the far post to take away what looked like a sure goal.
Makway extended the lead to 2-0 late in the period, connecting on a Cohen Carter rebound.
Christian Kim scored his first of two back-to-back goals, converting a neatly executed three-way power play passing play with a one-time sweep from the slot at 18:09, giving Trail a 3-0 lead after one period.
Kim’s second goal about 11-minutes into the second period was started by Kendrick’s backhand pass behind the net to Jack Kennedy, whose pass from deep in Trail territory was grabbed by Kim at the Blackfalds blueline. The 19-year-old Californian used his two teammates as decoys on the resulting three-on-one break, made a headfake and fired a shot along the ice through the five-hole.
Makway made it 5-0 about five minutes later.
The 20-year-old from Trail grabbed a loose puck at the Smokies’ blueline, broke in alone and scored on a nifty backhand-to-forehand move at high speed.
The Smokies onslaught continued a minute-and-a-half later when Ridge Dawson stole the puck at the Bulldogs blueline, fed Jack Ziliotto, whose attempted pass back to the Trail captain from the corner banked in off a Blackfalds defender for the Smoke Eaters league-leading 11th shorthanded goal of the season.
The Bulldogs got on the scoreboard at 6:40 of the third period during a wide-open stretch by both teams, as Tyler Chiovetti scored on a breakaway.
Dawson drilled in Trail’s final goal on a rebound from the left-wing boards with just over six minutes remaining and Bulldogs forward Jared Langdon jammed in the final goal of the game on a goalmouth scramble with just over a minute remaining.
Trail outshot the Bulldogs 45-29 and went 1-for-2 on the power play, while killing off the lone Blackfalds advantage in addition to counting the shorthanded goal.
The win vaults the Smokies a point past Salmon Arm into third place in the Interior Conference.
Makway has been on fire with four goals and nine points in the last four games.
He is now in a three-way tie for the team points lead with Dawson and defenseman Lucas Lemieux. Ziliotto and Evan Sundar are one point back, with Kim and Jason Stefanek four points off the pace.
Kendrick picked up his 14th win of the season and goes into the break with one shutout, a 2.55 GAA and .918 SP.
The Smoke Eaters are off until Saturday, December 28, when they host Okotoks and then Blackfalds the next afternoon.