Game Day | SA at TRA (Saturday)

The Trail Smoke Eaters have officially clinched home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but did not secure third place in the Interior Conference.

Easton Walos scored in the final minute of overtime to give Salmon Arm a 4-3 win, moving the fourth-place Silverbacks to within three points of the Smoke Eaters.

Trail dominated the opening six minutes of the game and took the lead just past the three minute mark.

The Smokies made three line changes on the fly while keeping the Silverbacks pinned down in their zone and finished the furious shift with Jason Stefanek tapping in a Christian Kim net-front pass to score his 29th goal of the season.

That momentum came to a screeching halt less than three minutes later.

Walos sent a pass from the corner into the Trail crease that bounced in off a Smoke Eaters defenseman to tie the game.

The Silverbacks grabbed the lead three minutes later when Dakota McIntosh raced through the crease and shoveled home a backhander, completing a fast-paced three-on-two rush.

Just over two minutes later, Roenick Jodoin one-timed a cross seam pass past Smokies goalie Teagan Kendrick from the left-wing circle and the Silverbacks carried a 3-1 lead and a 13-5 shot margin into the second period.

The Smokies battled back to tie the game early in short order.

Defenseman Lucas Lemieux buried a Jason Stefanek rebound less than a minute into the middle frame during a four-on-four situation and a minute-and-a-half later, Zach Coutu converted his own rebound after being sprung in alone by a Christian Kim pass.

The Smokies missed a golden opportunity to take the lead when Cole Cooksey of the Silverbacks was assessed a five-minute checking from behind penalty at about the ten minute mark.

The teams tightened up defensively until overtime, but Silverbacks goalie Daniel Dirrocolo made a huge save on a Dylan Lariviere point-blank shot early in the third period and a big buzzer-beating save on Judah Makway, who was in all alone.

The Smokies and the 1,686 Cominco Arena fans thought Trail was going to the power play about two-and-a-half minutes into overtime when Isaac Fecteau was practically wrestled to the ice, but the Smokies defenseman was given an Unsportsmanlike Conduct (Embellishment) penalty, keeping the teams at even strength.

A puck possession game persisted throughout the rest of the extra-period until Walos jammed in a rebound after a shot off the post during a goal-crease scramble with 39-seconds left in the three-on-three session.

The goal was confirmed after a video review.

Salmon Arm outshot Trail 30-23 with both teams going 0-for-2 on the power play.

The memorable 69-minutes and 21-seconds of playoff style hockey sets the stage for tonight’s return match.

Trail is looking to end a three-game slide, while the Silverbacks will be seeking a league-leading seventh straight win.

A Smoke Eaters victory would clinch third place.

Opening face-off at Cominco Arena is set for 7 o’clock.

It’s both the last regular season home game and Team Awards Night, when player awards will be presented at the conclusion of the game, followed by the annual Fan Photo when fans can take a group photo with the team down at centre ice and then mingle, take selfies and get autographs from players! Great seats for this weekend are still available at Tickets.TrailSmokeEaters.com.

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