Paul Mailey of the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters gave his team a 3-0 lead over the Quesnel Millionaires, one minute into the second period, with his second powerplay goal of the game. That was enough for the win, but the Smoke Eaters added five more goals on their way to an 8-2 win over the Mills.
The Smoke Eaters scored four powerplay goals on eight opportunities and the Millionaires went 1-6 on the powerplay.
The Mills struggled for much of the night, winning few battles for the puck and their defensive zone coverage appeared disorganized and in one instance two Smoke Eaters were left alone in the slot.
Down 5-0 the Mills did pull to within three on a powerplay goal by Shawn Mueller late in the second period and a pretty goal by Rigby Burgart early in the third period following some nifty work behind the net by Derek Huisman and Daryl DeVries.
But that’s as close as the Mills came.
Trail responded and shut the door with three more unanswered goals.
Adam Harris got the call for the Mills between the pipes. Harris had a strong first period, making several big saves from in close. The second and third periods were less than stellar, although Harris was left to fend for himself on a couple of occasions.
The Mills are back in action Friday night when they host the Vernon Vipers and Saturday the Smoke Eaters are back in town for a return engagement.
