It’s game four of the Interior Division Quarter Finals as the Smoke Eaters look to complete the sweep over the defending BCHL champions.
Interior Quarter Final
Trail leads 3-0
Game 1 Feb 28 Prince George (1) at Trail (2)
Game 2 Feb 29 Prince George (1) at Trail (2) OT1
Game 3 Mar 2 Trail (4) at Prince George (0)
Game 4 Mar 3 Trail at Prince George 7:00 PM PST
* Game 5 Mar 5 Trail at Prince George 7:00 PM PST
* Game 6 Mar 7 Prince George at Trail 7:00 PM PST
* Game 7 Mar 8 Prince George at Trail 7:00 PM PST
The Smoke Eaters got the goals to go and kept them out on their end, key tactics to win any game, but for the first time in this series a team had a multi goal lead as the Smoke Eaters won 4-0 on the road in game three. It was another tight game as Owen Ozar’s second period goal had us at a 1-0 scoreline going to the third. The Smoke Eaters offensive weapons then poured on the pressure to strike three times in the final frame leaving no doubt in the victory. Tonight they’ll have an opportunity to sweep Prince George out of the first round and give themselves a bit of rest prior to round two. As they play their fourth game in five nights they’ll look to close out this series against a Prince George team that started looking tired as the game went on. They’ll be facing a desperate hockey club with the Spruce Kings season on the line.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Ozar (2-3-5)
Johnson (1-4-5)
Lapointe (2-1-3)
Colella (1-2-3)
Dafoe (1-1-2)
It’s desperation time for the Spruce Kings, down 3-0 in the series and their season on the line they’ll look to stave off elimination and force a game five Thursday night. Aside from a few shifts in the second and a late power play in the third the Spruce Kings struggle to find offence while being hemmed in their own end multiple times during the game. Corey Cunningham, who led the Spruce Kings in goals this season has yet to make his mark on this series. Head coach Alex Evin will be looking to his top guys of Nick Poisson, Preston Brodziak and captain Nolan Welsh to step up if they want to extend this series. While Jett Alexander was once again very good for the Spruce Kings it hasn’t been enough to win them a game in this series. They’ll need all their experience and weapons tonight if they want to extend their season.
Bochen (1-1-2)
Williams (1-0-1)
Poisson (0-1-1)
Waite (0-1-1)
Welsh (0-1-1)
It’s game four as the Smoke Eaters will try and win their fourth straight of the playoffs while the Spruce Kings face elimination, a recipe that always makes for a great game. Puck drop is at 7pm from Rolling Mix Concrete Arena. Catch the game on HockeyTV or Mixlr with Ben Phillips starting with the pregame show at 6:50pm.
