PREVIEW: SMOKE EATERS HOST THE WILD LOOKING TO AVENGE LAST WEEKS DEFEAT
Coming off a 9-2 thrilling win on Wednesday night the Smoke Eaters will look to end the month of January on a high as they host the Wenatchee Wild for the final meeting of the season.
Regular season verse Wenatchee
September 20th @ Town Toyota Centre 3-1L (BOXSCORE)
October 30th @ Trail Memorial Centre 5-1W (BOXSCORE)
December 11th @ Trail Memorial Centre 3-1 W (BOXSCORE)
January 24th @ Town Toyota Centre 4-3 W (BOXSCORE)
January 25th @ Town Toyota Centre 2-1 SOL (BOXSCORE)
January 31st @ Trail Memorial Centre 7pm
The Smoke Eaters will look to wrap up the season series against the Wild with another win. Already 3-1-0-1 against the Wild this year the Smoke Eaters have won both meetings on home ice. Cominco Arena has become a difficult place for opposing teams to play. The Smoke Eaters currently have a nine game winning streak going inside the Trail Memorial Centre, while going 17-1-0 since September. They’ve also scored the second most goals on home ice in the league with 99 in 24 games (including 1 game at the BCHL Showcase). Coming off the 9-2 win on Wednesday night, the Smoke Eaters will look to add to what has been an impressive month of hockey. With a record of 8-1-0-1 to start the new year the Smokies are have also picked up points in six straight games. They’ll look to build off Wednesday’s win as the Wild come to town. Last Saturday it was Wenatchee who came out on top with a 2-1 shootout win, a result the Smoke Eaters will look to avenge tonight at home. Head Coach Jeff Tambellini will be more than happy to roll all four lines with the Braden Costello, Max Kryski and Jaden Senkoe line combining for nine points against Prince George, all while the big guns for the Smoke Eaters still produced in the win. It was a goaltender battle right to the bitter end last Saturday in Wenatchee and it’s bound to be a similar tale tonight.
Last ten games: 8-1-0-1
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Johnson (36-52-88)
Ozar (22-37-59)
Colella (21-36-57)
Lapointe (17-30-47)
DiMurro (6-27-33)
The Wild are coming off a loss on Wednesday night to the Vernon Vipers, a game they very much would have liked to win with the Vipers sitting in front of the Wild in the Interior division. 3rd, 4th and 5th are separated by just three points, which means the Wild will be looking to grab two points on the road tonight to help get home ice in the first round of the playoffs. It was a comeback loss for the Wild on Wednesday as they took a 3-1 lead into the third period before Vernon scored three unanswered to win the game. The Wild have two big games with the Smoke Eaters tonight and then back at home Saturday night against the Coquitlam Express. The Wild are without one of their top scorers in Brian Adams who went down with an injury last week against the Smoke Eaters. That has lead to a bit of a change up for the Wild who are no strangers to dealing with the injury bug this season.
Last ten games: 5-5-0
Wild leading scorers
Cafarelli (17-23-40)
Adams (19-18-37)
Young (8-25-33)
Chorske (16-16-32)
Dorsey (7-19-26)
Puck drop is at 7pm as the Smoke Eaters look to keep their momentum from Wednesday going before having a week off. It’s the final meeting of the regular season between the Smoke Eaters and the Wild. Catch the game starting at 6:50pm on HockeyTV or Mixlr with Ben Phillips and Rob Squires.