It’s hockey night in Trail as the Smoke Eaters host the Spruce Grove Saints.
The Trail troupe is looking to bounce back from Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the league-leading Brooks Bandits, on a night when puck luck eluded them.
The Saints are another one of the five teams who left the AJHL for the BCHL during the second half of last season.
They head into Trail with a record of 5-7-1, but are coming off a 4-3 win last Friday in Blackfalds and a 5-4 shootout victory last Saturday over the visiting West Kelowna Warriors.
They are led offensively by Josh Polak who has eight goals and 13 points. He scored in regulation and added a shootout goal in the win over the Warriors.
This is the second clash of the season series as the Smokies opened their late September road trip with a 7-2 victory in Spruce Grove. Trail jumped out to a 5-0 first period lead with the two teams tallying twice each over the furious final 40 minutes.
Callas Pierce led the Trail attack on that September 27th evening, with two goals and an assist, while defenseman Lucas Lemieux also tallied twice including his first shorthanded marker and second game winning goal of the season.
It was also a big night for goalie Teagan Kendrick, who earned second star honours making 22 of his 39 saves in the second period. Kendrick was the team’s best penalty killer in the middle frame, as the Smokies survived a five-minute major penalty and about a minute and a half with a two-man disadvantage.
The 20-year-old from nearby St. Albert was playing in front of family and friends.
That stretch was also highlighted by Jack Ziliotto’s painful shot-block, in which he needed help from his two team mates to make it back to the bench.
Tonight’s tilt will also be the second time Smokies winger Evan Sundar has gone up against his former team mates. He was traded to Trail for the rights to defenseman Brody Juck over the summer.
The 19-year-old opened the scoring in his first clash against the Saints, added an assist and spent six minutes in the penalty box in a feisty, full-out performance. He was also denied on a late third period penalty shot by Saints goalie Xander Miceli.
Sundar is second in points for the Smokies with 14, one back of Lemieux. Jason Stefanek continues to lead the team in goals with nine, while line mate Attila Lippai has been finding the back of the net frequently of late, picking up his fifth goal of the season against the Bandits.
The Smokies (8-5-1-1) are tied for second in their division with Salmon Arm and are in a three-way deadlock for third in the Interior Conference along with Cranbrook, so every point is precious, as they wrap up week seven of the regular season.
Opening face-off is at 7 p.m. and great seats are still available at Tickets.TrailSmokeEaters.com.
