Post Game: Trail 4 Westside 2

NOTE: St. Denis has now been given credit for Trail's first goal. He tipped in the shot by Betz. Betz also has been credited with an assist on Brown's goal.

Trail, BC - Sean Nugent and Justin Brown broke a third period tie to lead the Smoke Eaters to their first win over Westside in a year and a half. The 4-2 victory gives Trail a 6 point cushion on Prince George for the Interior's final playoff spot.

Kiefer Smiley stopped all 24 shots he faced after relieving Garrett Beckwith in Trail's net at the start of the second period. The Smoke Eaters now have a win or an overtime loss in all of their last four games.

Trail opened the scoring when Mike Betz fired it through a crowd just seconds after the Smokies power play expired. Sam Mellor also scored for the orange and black in the first on a terrific feed from Scott Jacklin.

Kyle Singleton and Max French responded for the Warriors who twice came back from one goal deficits.

Both teams played a gritty and simple game throughout the final 40 minutes. It looked like neither side would find a way to break the deadlock until Josh McEwan stole a Kevin Jebson clearing attempt and set up Nugent for the winner.

Brown capped off a nice Steve Oursov rush by knocking his own rebound out of mid-air to put the game out of reach.

After getting out scored 3-0 on special teams against Penticton, the Smokies held the Westside power play off the score sheet on Friday night. The game also had a decidedly physical side and that intensity may boil over when they face off again on Saturday night at the Cominco Arenea.

ON THE TRAIL: Travis St. Denis looked solid in his return to Trail's line-up. The Smokies are still missing Mitch Kaufmann and Thomas Abenante to injury. Only Kaufmann is expected to return before the end of the season ... With 2 assists Nick Sandor was the only Smoke Eater with multiple points in the game ... Jebson stopped 25 of the 29 shots Trail fired at him. It was his first loss against Trail this season and only the second time the Smoke Eaters have topped him in his Warriors career ... Westside played the game without leading scorer Trevor Bailey. The 40 goal scorer is expected back in time for the playoffs.

Post Penticton Audio

Smokies Assistant Coach Brian Youngson

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Smokies Forward Scott Jacklin

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Smokies Forward Justin Brown

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Chris Wahl interviews Penticton Defenceman Isaac MacLeod

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Game Day: Westside at Trail

This is the first of three consecutive games between the Smokies and Warriors. They'll play tonight and Saturday night in Trail before hooking up again on Tuesday night in West Kelowna. Westside already knows where they'll finish in the standings (3rd in the Interior) while it's still do or die for Trail as they push for the playoffs. It's also only the fourth meeting of the season between the two clubs.

Trail has been a different team over their last three games. A lot of those positive strides started in the previous two months with occasional let downs. Are they fully on the right track now? They've had trouble with the Warriors in what has been a relatively small sample of BCHL action this season. The Smokies also haven't got a win over the Warriors since November 22nd, 2008. That includes a three game sweep for Westside in the first round of the playoffs last season. The final two games of that series were heartbreaking OT losses for Trail. Here's how the season series breaks down...

• Sept 24: Trail 2 at Westside 9
• Dec 9: Westside 3 at Trail 0
• Jan 17: Trail 3 at Westside 7
  

The two most recent games in the season series were closer than the score would indicate. However, the Smokies have had a lot of trouble scoring against the Warriors so far this season. Kevin Jebson has been a thorn in Trail's side dating back to when he snuffed out their 2009 playoff dreams. The Smokies are coming off scoring 5 goals against the Vees and 4 against the Bulldogs. Can they do the same against this hard working Westside group? The other thing to note is that the most recent game was a very intense and physical battle. With 3 games against each other in 5 days we could see those hostilities flare up.

RECORDS

Trail: 17-30-1-6 (5-6-0-3 in 2010)
Westside: 35-15-1-2 (9-4-0-1 in 2010)

POWER PLAY

Trail: 3/15 (20%)
Westside: 6/12 (50%)

TRAIL TOP SCORERS

Paul Mailey (1-2-3)
Mike Betz (1-1-2)
Nick Sandor (1-1-2)
Scott Jacklin (1-1-2)
Travis St. Denis (0-2-2)

WESTSIDE TOP SCORERS

Trevor Bailey (3-3-6)
Quinn Gould (3-3-6)
Alex Grieve (0-6-6)
Cam Reid (2-2-4)
Brendan Ellis (2-2-4)
Tyler Krause (2-2-4)
Grayson Downing (2-2-4)
Kyle Singlton (0-4-4)

GOALTENDERS

Kevin Jebson (WES) 3-0, 1.67GAA, 0.946%
Kiefer Smiley (TRA) 0-2, 4.56GAA, 0.886%
Garrett Beckwith (TRA) 0-0, 7.33GAA, 0.800% *relieved Murtagh in only appearance

ROSTER

TRAIL

WESTSIDE

BROADCAST

No home radio broadcast but the game is available on BCHL PPV.

Local sports blog

My colleague at Mountain FM has started a new sports blog that appears like it will focus on the Castlegar Rebels. Chris Wahl is new here and will be taking over as their internet play by play guy. You will have also heard him as my colour man for a few games on Smokies PPV. You can check out his blog and set your bookmarks here --- http://off-the-wahl.blogspot.com/

Video Highlights: Penticton 6 Trail 5 (OT)

The video file for the Alberni Valley game isn't working for me so that's why no highlights from that game thus far. We'll see. Don't forget to check out the Smokies truck raffle to support the club and win some great prizes. Overtime is back with a brand new show tomorrow night at 6pm on Mountain FM.

Smokies Truck Raffle

(Click to enlarge for details)

Post Game: Penticton 6 Trail 5 (OT)

Trail, BC - It seems like sixty minutes is never enough for the Vees and Smoke Eaters at the Cominco Arena. They've needed overtime six of the past seven times Penticton has been in Trail.

After the Smokies won the previous five games that went to extra time, Tuesday night it was Penticton's turn.

Beau Bennett scored his second of the game early in the 3 on 3 overtime period to lift the Vees to a 6-5 victory. It was the culmination of a come from behind effort for Penticton and gave Bennett his 100th point of the season.

Beau's brother Wade actually got on the scoreboard before he could in this one. Nick Sandor, Wade Bennett and Justin Brown scored in the first five minutes of the game to give Trail a 3-0 lead on their first 3 shots of the game. Penticton goaltender Sean Bonar got the hook without ever stopping a puck.

Jake Johnson responded for the Vees on the power play before Scott Jacklin restored Trail's 3 goal lead. However, the momentum turned in Penticton's favour. The 3rd ranked team in Canada controlled the second half of the first period and cut the Smoke Eater lead to 4-3 by the time a very busy first twenty minutes was complete.

Penticton scored the only goal of the second period as Joey Laleggia extended his point streak to 15 games with a power play goal. Trail actually out shot the Vees 12-8 in the period but were unsuccessful on 3 power play opportunities.

The Smoke Eaters would get their lead back as Scott Jacklin scored his second of the game on a gritty effort early in the third period. However, special teams turned the tide again when Logan Johnston tied the game on a shorthanded goal.

Special teams were unquestionably the difference in the game as Trail went 0 for 4 on the man advantage while the Vees were 2 for 3. The Smokies continue to struggle at home with their man advantage as it operates at 15% at the Cominco Arena but over 23% on the road.

Trail got a strong effort from their top line as Jacklin, Sam Mellor and Nick Sandor combined for 9 points. Penticton leaned on Bennett as he had 3 points while Jake Johnson added a goal and an assist.

The tie gives Trail a 4 point lead in Prince George for the final playoff spot in the Interior. They're also only a single point behind Merritt for 6th. The next action for the Smokies is back to back home games against the Westside Warriors on Friday and Saturday night.

ON THE TRAIL: Justin Brown returned to the line-up but Trail was still without Travis St. Denis, Mitch Kaufmann and Thomas Abenante due to injury. Tommy Rizzardo was a healthy scratch ... Kiefer Smiley stopped 35 of 41 shots in the Smoke Eater net while Joel Rumpel was solid in relief for Penticton with 27 saves on 29 shots against ... The spreading was spread out throughout the line-ups of both teams. 10 different players had points for the Vees while 9 different players chipped in for Trail ... The Smokies are now 1-3-0-1 against Penticton this season and will visit the Vees on their final game of the regular season.