The Trail Smoke Eaters deserved better on Saturday in Salmon Arm, but a hot goalie and bad puck luck hit the Smokies hard, losing late to the Silverbacks after falling to the Prince George Spruce Kings on Friday.
The Smoke Eaters played all but flawless hockey through two periods and took a 2-0 lead into the third, but surrendered four goals in the final frame in a 4-2 setback to Salmon Arm.
“Hockey is a ruthless game and sometimes even though you deserve it you don’t get it,” said Smoke Eaters head coach and GM Jeff Tambellini. “That’s just part of winning, and that’s why I’m so focused on the character of the players we build our team around, because we’re going to go through adversity sooner or later – as a hockey team and as a player how do you react?”
Layne Sniher scored his first goal as a Smoke Eater, taking a pass from Kent Johnson and sniping it by Silverbacks goalie Mathew Armitage with 5:31 to play in the first period for a 1-0 lead.
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Trail dominated the opening period outshooting Salmon Arm 14-6, and kept the pace up in the second, but Armitage, in his Salmon Arm debut, made several key saves to keep the ‘Backs in the game.
Trail finally broke through on a 5-on-3 advantage. Armitage stymied Braeden Tuck on a backdoor pass from Johnson, but the 16-year-old Port Moody native slipped in the rebound for a 2-0 lead with 3:23 to play in the second period.
Salmon Arm got on the board less than five minutes into the final stanza on a Logan Shaw goal. Trail played solid defensive hockey, but a penalty with 3:17 remaining put the Silverbacks on the power play. Trail held the ‘Backs at bay for over a minute until former Beaver Valley Nitehawk forward Aidan Jenner banged in a rebound off a shot from the point to tie it at 2:08.
Then, just 27 seconds later, Sam McBean stepped in from the point and wired a wrister over the glove of Marcoux for what proved to be the ‘Backs game winner. The Smoke Eaters had a chance to tie it with a power play and the goalie pulled in the final 1:12, but Hudson Schandor fired a shorthanded goal into the Smokies empty net with 45 seconds to play.
Despite the loss, Tambellini was encouraged by the effort.
“That was the best 50 minutes our team has played the entire season,” said Tambellini. “We dominated the possession and tone of the game the entire way … We can take a lot out of that, but our guys and our group are going to have to find a way to fight through this and get back on track, but we really liked the direction of our group Saturday night.”
Trail outshot Salmon Arm 33-26 and went 2-for-5 on the power play, while Salmon Arm was 1-for-1.
On Friday, Ben Brar netted a hat trick for Prince George in a 5-2 victory over Trail at the Cominco Arena.
The Spruce Kings quieted the Trail crowd of almost 2,000, jumping out to a 3-0 first period lead on two goals by Brar and one from former Smoke Eaters Sean Donaldson.
Johnson got the Smoke Eaters on the board with 57 seconds remaining, and Bryce Anderson made it 3-2 scoring the only goal of the second period less than five minutes in.
The Spruce Kings shut down the Smokies attack allowing just five shots in the third, and empty net goals from Brar and Chong Min Lee in the final 67 seconds iced it for the visitors.
“The one thing I did like in our group is that we fought and clawed,” Tambellini told Smoke Eaters announcer Trevor Miller. “We found one in the first and another hit in the second, and had a chance to take the game back in the third, but weren’t able to find a way to score that third one. The game slipped away, but then again spotting teams a 3-0 lead – tough to come back in this league.”
Prince George outshot Trail 29-17 and went 0-for-1 on the power play. Trail was 0-for-4.
The losses drop the 7-8-4-1 Smoke Eaters to the bottom of the Interior Division, yet, the Smokies are still just six points out of first place.
Trail embarks on a Vancouver Island road trip with games against Victoria, Cowichan Valley, and Surrey this weekend.
Smoke Signals: Smoke Eaters fans got a good look at recent acquisition and Vernon native Powell Connor on Friday, and Smokies veteran forward Spencer McLean also returned to the line up for the first time this season.
The highly regarded defenceman, Connor, is coming off an RBC Cup championship season with the Chilliwack Chiefs.
“It was great to get him (Connor) in the first night with no full practice,” said Tambellini. “Then the second night, he fit right in. He looked like the player we knew we got. We know we have a championship calibre player, a guy that’s won before.”
McLean played in his first game of the season since an injury in training camp kept him sidelined. The return of the four-year veteran couldn’t be more timely as the Smoke Eaters struggled to a 0-5-0-1 recored in their past six games. While his return to top form may take a few games, his presence in the dressing room and intensity on the ice has been sorely missed.
“He’s a massive part of our room,” said Tambellini. “A guy that’s been here longer than anyone else, the leadership he brings, he’s a huge part of our team. So to get a guy like that who is such a high-end guy, and brings so much energy to our team is going to go a long way the next couple weeks.”
