Game Report | CRA at TRA

The Trail Smoke Eaters clinched third place in the BCHL’s Interior Conference with an emphatic statement at Cominco Arena.

They avenged a 4-3 overtime loss to Salmon Arm the night before with a solid 4-1 victory over the Silverbacks.

The Smokies opened the scoring just shy of the 14-minute mark during a dominant first period when rookie Josh Evaschesen snapped a low, 60-foot shot just inside the post.

The Smokies flew out of the gate to start the second period as leading scorer Jason Stefanek streaked down the left wing and sniped a low stick-side shot past Silverbacks goalie Andrew Ballantyne, completing a slick and speedy three way passing with Christian Kim and Zach Coutu to make it 2-0 just ten seconds into the middle frame. It was Stefanek’s 30th goal of the season.

Salmon Arm struck back two minutes later on the power play.

Dakota McIntosh drilled a low one-time shot just inside the near post after a cross-seam pass to temporarily take the momentum away from the home side.

Captain Ridge Dawson grabbed it back with a sensational goal five and a half minutes later.

The recent commit to the NCAA’s new hockey program at Tennessee State University, squeezed past Salmon Arm defenseman Scott Minor down the right-wing boards and sizzled a short-side shot into the top corner, seizing the moment on a scintillating solo-effort to make it 3-1 Trail.

Eight minutes later, Dylan Lariviere with his 6′ 6″ net front presence, tapped in a Jason Stefanek pass, snapping an 0-for-12 run on the power play to open a three-goal lead after two periods.

But before the end of the middle frame, Judah Makway brought the 1,617 fans to their feet, avenging a hit on Dawson by socking it out with Silverbacks defenseman Sawyer Prokopetz in a furious fight, dominated by the 20-year-old home town boy.

The Smokies went into shut down mode in the third period, limiting the desperate visitors to seven shots on goal in the final frame to close the show.

Trail outshot the Silverbacks 32-23 and solved Salmon Arm’s overage goalie, who had held Trail to just two goals on 72 shots in their previous two showdowns.

The Smokies were 1-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.

The victory halted Trail’s three game slide and snapped Salmon Arm’s six game winning streak.

Meanwhile, Cranbrook’s 4-1 Saturday night setback against Penticton means the third-place Smokies and sixth-place Bucks will battle in the first round of the playoffs. Trail won that season series 4-2.

The Smokies will close out the regular season next weekend with road games in Vernon and West Kelowna.

All Smokies games can be heard on Mixlr and viewed on FloHockey.

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