The cardiac comeback kids from the Kootenays did it again!
Jason Stefanek scored his 11th goal of the season at 3:47 overtime to give the Trail Smoke Eaters a 3-2 win in West Kelowna.
It was another goaltender’s duel.
Trail’s Teagan Kendrick set the bar high early, robbing Warriors forward Kelsen Podworney on a breakaway.
Warriors netminder Jack Lisson then took what looked like a sure goal away from Christian Kim who was set up for a one-time blast from the left-wing faceoff circle.
Smokies centremen Judah Makway got the lone goal of the first period on a Trail power play.
Lucas Lemieux fed the 20-year-old from Trail with a perfect pass in the slot and Makway swept his 7th goal of the season into a wide open net with just over two minutes left in the opening frame.
The Warriors tied the game midway through the second period.
Podworney converted a two-on-one break, finding the short side before Kendrick could get across the net after a pass just outside the crease.
West Kelowna took the lead early in the third period on a goalmouth scramble.
Logan Flint weaved around the players battling in front of the net and shoveled in a backhander to make it 2-1 Warriors.
Then came the turning point.
The Smokies killed off a four-minute high sticking penalty against Drew Anastasio, which was assessed after an extremely long video review and then went on the power play with 2:39 remaining.
It took just 14-seconds for Jack Ziliotto to set up newcomer Aidan Castle for a tap-in at the far post to set the stage for overtime.
West Kelowna’s Tyler Grahme had the first big chance breaking down the left side and through the crease, but Kendrick kept his pads closed for the backhand attempt.
Then Christian Kim set up Stefanek, who made no mistake with his cruise through the crease, converting a forehand-to backhand move, high into a wide-open net. Lemieux started the play for his second assist of the night.
West Kelowna outshot Trail 34-33.
The Smokies went 2-for-4 on the power play and killed off all five Warriors advantages.
Tonight marks the second venture into the Shuswap for the Smokies with a showdown against the Silverbacks in Salmon Arm.
Their first meeting ended in sensational fashion, with Ridge Dawson scoring a shorthanded goal with less than a second left in regulation and Carter Matthews ripped in the overtime winner for the 2-1 victory.
Last night in Salmon Arm, the Silverbacks (16-4-3) blanked Spruce Grove 3-0 to remain second in the Interior Conference, six points ahead of the 4th place Smoke Eaters (13-7-2-1).
Opening faceoff is at 6 p.m. (Pacific) with all the action available on Mixlr and FloHockey.
