PREVIEW – Smoke Eaters look to bounce back against the Vipers
The Smoke Eaters will be looking for a more complete effort as they close out their season series against the Vipers tonight at Kal Tire Place.
Season Series Against the Vipers
Feb. 3 Vernon 4 at Trail 1 Final
Feb. 20 Trail 3 at Vernon 2 Final OT
Feb. 25 Vernon 3 at Trail 1 Final
Mar. 17 Trail 1 at Vernon 6 Final
Mar. 18 Trail at Vernon 6:00 pm PDT
The Smoke Eaters put together a strong 30-35 minute performance on Friday night in Vernon, scoring the games first goal and then coming close to breaking the 1-1 deadlock a few times to start the second. However the Vipers would continue to push and finally cracked through and wouldn’t look back enroute to a 6-1 win. Josh Schenk and Brady Hunter combined again last night in the Smoke Eaters lone goal, they’ll be hoping to find the net more than once tonight. The Smoke Eaters now will look to bounce back as they close out the season series against the Vipers and get a weekend split.
Smoke Eaters leading scorers:
Hunter (16-42-58)
Cobetto-Roy (14-27-41)
Remissong (15-19-34)
Bushy (6-27-33)
Marshall (13-18-31)
The Vipers did everything right from their perspective last night. Picking up the win propelled them into a tie for fifth, a point out of fourth and three back of third. Winners of now four in a row the Vipers will have to keep their consistent play going as they have to prepare for a bounce back performance from the Smoke Eaters. With the playoff fates still very much unknown and to some degree in their own hands, Vernon should have no trouble finding that same spark they had on Friday night. Luke Pakulak was one of the key difference makers for the Vipers last night amongst a wealth of scoring that came throughout their line up.
Vipers leading scorers:
Parks (21-24-45)
Milburn (17-28-45)
Pakulak (16-23-39)
Cleaves (12-22-34)
Erickson (16-14-30)
It’s the Smoke Eaters and Vipers for the final time this season, as the Smoke Eaters look to head back to Trail with a weekend split, while the Vipers hope to continue their push up the Interior Conference standings.