The Trail Smoke Eaters meet the Surrey Eagles Sunday afternoon in a battle of two of the hottest teams in the BCHL.
Trail’s 4-1 Saturday night triumph over the Silverbacks in Salmon Arm gives them points in four straight games including three wins, while the Eagles have points in five straight, including four victories following a 5-1 Saturday night stunning of the Oilers in Okotoks.
In the Shuswap, the tight-checking scoreless showdown ended with a pair of superlative solo efforts midway through the second period.
Smokies centreman Jack Ziliotto stole the puck outside the Silverbacks blueline, fought off a furious back-check and executed a dazzling dangle going forehand-backhand-forehand and stuffed the puck past Salmon Arm goalie Ryan Grout.
Two minutes later and nine seconds into a four minute penalty kill, Ziliotto sent Ridge Dawson streaking down the right wing and the Smokies captain blew past the defender to sweep in a brilliant backhander after being tripped, sending the puck into the back of the net, before he crashed into it.
Trail goalie Ryan Parker made some outstanding saves early in the third period during a Silverback push, but Salmon Arm got on the scoreboard at the 6:40 mark on a shot by Kaycee Coyle.
Trail regained its two goal lead three minutes later when Gryphon Bucci, who was a forechecking force all game, created the neutral zone turnover that he converted by finishing a fabulous give-and-go with Ziliotto.
Bucci also buried the deal-sealer into the empty net with just over three minutes remaining on a perfectly executed set play.
Ziliotto won the faceoff in the Smokies zone, then Carter Matthews ripped the puck down the ice with Dawson in full flight. The Trail captain won the race for the puck and sent his sharp angle shot off the post, with Bucci scoring on the rebound.
Parker put in a strong performance making 29 saves, helping Trail kill off all four Silverbacks power plays, including the double minor, while the Smokies went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.
The Eagles meanwhile sealed their Saturday night victory with three unanswered third period goals.
Both teams travelled overnight to arrive in Trail in the wee hours to mark an historic occasion.
The 75th anniversary of Cominco Arena will be celebrated before the opening faceoff.
Former Smoke Eaters and others instrumental in the history of Trail’s storied venue over the past seven decades will be honoured on the red carpet at centre ice before the opening faceoff slated for about 3:05 p.m.
