Game Day | TRA at PEN

The drive for five is done. Tonight, the Trail Smoke Eaters trek to Penticton looking for a sixth straight win, in a battle of the two hottest teams in the BCHL.

The Smokies battled back from a 2-1 deficit after one period to fire four unanswered goals for a 5-2 frosting of Spruce Grove.

The Cominco Arena crowd of 1,633 erupted when Lucas Lemieux opened the scoring just before the nine minute mark.

The defenseman jumped into an opening in front of the Saints net and lifted a Zach Coutu pass into the top corner after the newest Smokie streaked down the left wing and circled the net with the teams playing four-on-four.

It was Lemieux’s ninth goal of the season, tying 19-year-old Axel Lofgren of West Kelowna for the lead among BCHL rearguards.

The Saints tied the game 24-seconds later when Max Seguin finished a long cross-seam pass to the right-wing circle as Trail goalie Ryan Parker got a piece of the shot after scrambling across the net, but not enough to keep it out.

Spruce Grove took the lead five minutes later when top scorer Josh Polak ripped a sharp-angle shot from the right side that snuck under the crossbar for his 13th goal of the season.

Trail’s rookie line was a force all game with centreman Cade De St. Hubert tying the contest about nine minutes into the second period.

The Minnesota product deflected an Isaac Fecteau point shot past Saints netminder Xander Miceli.

De St. Hubert, Josh Evaschesen and Deacon Drummond hounded the Saints defense throughout the game.

Trail regained the lead just over three minutes later when Dylan Lariviere one-timed an Evan Sundar pass from the slot into the low blocker side corner on Miceli.

Sundar, a former Saint acquired in a summertime trade, has six points in the three games against his former team.

The shot volume picked up at both ends in the third period and the decisive shot came about eight minutes into the final frame.

Drummond deflected home a point shot from fellow rookie Owen McCarthy to give the Smokies a 4-2 lead. De St. Hubert picked up the other assist and duplicated Tuesday night’s effort in Cranbrook with a two point performance.

Coutu came close to scoring his first goal as a Smoke Eater on a breakaway a few minutes later, but was denied on two great saves by Miceli as it looked like the 19-year-old playing his second game as a Smokie, would bury his own rebound.

Christian Kim sealed the deal, spinning a shot from just past the Smokies blueline into an empty net with just under three minutes remaining in what was a fast, physical affair from beginning to end.

Spruce Grove outshot Trail 26-25, with the Smokies killing off all four Saints power plays. The Smoke Eaters lone man advantage lasted only 19 seconds.

Parker picked up his fifth win of the season.

The Smokies are 9-1 in their last 10 games heading into the Saturday night showdown in Penticton, while the Vees are 9-0-1 following a 5-1 Friday night win at home against Sherwood Park.

It’s a huge game in the race atop the Interior Conference.

The third-place Smokies trail the conference-leading Vees by four points and are just a single point back of the second place Brooks Bandits.

The Smoke Eaters will bolster their defence tonight with the addition of affiliate player Joe Marranzino from the Peninsula Panthers. The 5’9″, 165-pound right-shot defenseman, hailing from Denver, CO, has been called up for the matchup, bringing his strong presence to the blueline.

Opening face-off from the South Okanagan Events Centre is at 6 p.m. with all the action on Mixlr and FloHockey.