Trail forward Kent Johnson scored in a shootout to give the Trail Smoke Eaters a 4-3 win over Wenatchee Wild on Saturday at the Town Toyota Centre in Wenatchee.
The Smoke Eaters rebounded from a 6-2 loss on Friday to defeat the Wild in a thrilling match the next night, in what may be a preview of the BCHL playoffs.
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“Just based on the difficulty of travel, you do a six-and-a-half hour trip the day of the game, you never know what your group is going to have,” said Smoke Eaters head coach and GM Jeff Tambellini. “We started a little sluggish and we didn’t get our game going until the third period the first night.
“Our second game we pushed on a couple real important things in the morning, but down 2-0, down 3-2, to get into overtime and find a way to do whatever it takes to win a hockey game was really good for our group.”
Johnson was the second of three shooters from Trail in the shootout, and the 16-year-old rookie skated in, made a quick fake before slipping it five-hole on Wenatchee goalie Cal Sandquist for the game winner. The goal is Johnson’s fourth in five shootout attempts this season.
“Whatever the play, it’s just the fact you have the game on your stick at a pressure moment,” said Tambellini. “He’s a young kid that loves the pressure of it … He’s a guy that’s extremely skilled and so determined to be a game breaker, it’s great to have him on our bench.”
Smokies goalie Adam Marcoux stopped 20 of 23 shots including all three shooters in the shootout for his 15th win of the season.
The Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from P.J. Fletcher and Matt Dorsey, but Trail battled back with Layne Sniher scoring at 1:38 on a tap in off a great rush by Chase Stevenson.
“Stevenson’s goal, it really changed the momentum when they were up 2-0 and we came right back to score a goal and now we have a chance to come back in the game.”
Hayden Rowan then tied it midway through the second period on a power play, banging in a rebound for his 14th tally of the season.
However, Murphy Stratton blasted a shot that went off the shoulder of Marcoux and into the net to restore the Wild’s one goal lead with 8:03 remaining in the middle frame. Yet, Trail again battled back and just 13 seconds into the third period Mack Byers stripped the Wild d-man of the puck, walked out from behind the net and outwaited Wild goalie Cal Sandquist to tie the game at three.
The match remained that way, despite a determined effort by the Smoke Eaters to end it as Trail outshot the Wild 9-5 in the period.
Trail’s PK killed off a penalty in the 4-on-4 overtime and with just seconds left, Wild forward Marko Reifenberger forced a turnover outside of the Smokies blue line, skated in on a breakaway but was robbed by Marcoux with a great blocker save to force the shootout.
Owen Ozar went first and clanged his shot off the post. Marcoux denied the first shooter, then Johnson went five-hole on Sandquist for the game winner. The Smokies goalie did the rest stymieing the final two Wenatchee snipers for the win.
Trail outshot Wenatchee 25-23, and went 1-for-4 on the power play and a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
The game was a much improved effort following Friday’s loss, where Wenatchee outshot Trail 39-20, and newly acquired goalie Donovan Buskey suffered his first loss as a Smoke Eater.
“We pushed on a lot of things and we’re at the point now with our group, where it’s not about individuals anymore, it’s about team success,” said Tambellini. “And we really made an impact on our group on Saturday morning about the importance of working as a group.”
The Smokies fell behind early and couldn’t catch up as the Wild jumped out to a 5-1 lead after two periods on their way to a 6-2 victory. The Wild peppered the Smokies net and held a 32-12 advantage on shots through 40 minutes, giving Buskey a thorough workout. Despite allowing six goals, Buskey showed why he was a third-round pick in the WHL Draft.
“I thought Donovan was fantastic,” said Tambellini. “He probably wants the first one back, but the last goals were all backdoor plays. For the entire night, Donovan made unbelievable saves. He’s a young man that’s calm and positionally structured, but we can’t give up the opportunities we did that night and expect him to bail us out. We know that Donovan’s a guy that can win us hockey games and will give us a chance every time he’s in the net.”
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Wenatchee outshot Trail 39-20 and were 2-for-2 on the power play.
Trail is on the road again this weekend as they travel to Salmon Arm to face the Silverbacks for a two-game set.
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