The Trail Smoke Eaters jumped out to a great start but faltered in the final frame in a Game 3 loss to the Vernon Vipers on Tuesday at the Trail Memorial Centre.
Vipers forward Adam Csabi scored the game winner with 5:41 remaining on their way to a 5-3 victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters in the first round of the Interior Conference final.
Csabi redirected a slap-pass from Carson McGinley over the blocker of Smoke Eaters goalie Teagan Kendrick to give Vernon a 4-3 lead.
With the victory, Vernon takes a commanding 3-0 series lead in the BCHL quarterfinal series.
The loss was a disappointing setback for the Smoke Eaters who led 2-0 less than five minutes into the opening frame on goals from Adam Parsons and Mathieu Cobetto-Roy.
Shea Busch scored his first of the playoff on a nice passing play with Bronson Ross and Erik Pastro to cut the lead to 2-1 and get the Vipers on the board with 3:58 left in the first period.
Bush then tied it 3:10 into the second after a puck took a bad bounce off the backboards settled in front of Kendrick. Ross crashed the net and Bush jumped on the loose puck and fired it into the open cage.
The teams traded chances throughout the second period but both goalies made several stellar saves to keep the game deadlocked at two heading to the third.
The tension tightened up in the third, and a penalty to Carson McGinley gave Trail a power play. However, Anthony Cliche stole the puck in the Trail end and wired a shot under the arm of Kendrick for a shorthanded tally and a 3-2 Vipers lead.
Trail responded when Adam Parsons point shot made its way through traffic and past Ethan David to tie it at three with 9:13 remaining in regulation.
As the time ticked away, the fans were getting ready for an extra frame, until Csabi gave the Vipers the lead, and Isaac Tremblay iced it with a goal into the empty net with 65 seconds to play and a 5-3 final.
Trail outshot Vernon 37-34, and were 2-for-5 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
In Game 2, Vernon scored four goals in the third-period to break open a 1-1 tie and defeat the Smoke Eaters 5-2 on Saturday, April 6.
Luke Pakulak scored the game winner 4:10 into the final frame on a set up from Nick Mikan for a 3-1 Vipers lead.
Trail opened the scoring when Smoke Eaters captain Ethan Warrener beat Vernon goalie Ethan David at 6:08 of the first period.
Vernon tied it 14:07 into the second on a goal from Isaac Tremblay to send the game to the final frame tied at one.
Carson McGinley tallied his first of the playoff 3:47 into the third period on a set up from Erik Pastro and Adam Csabi to give Vernon a 2-1 lead.
After Pakulak made it 3-1, power play goals from Owen Kim and Etienne Lessard’s put Vernon up 5-1.
Trail product Judah Makway completed the scoring with 4:41 remaining in regulation for the 5-2 final.
Vernon outshot Trail 39-30 and went 2-for-6 on the power play, and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
In Game 1 on Friday, the teams were in a tight goaltender’s duel with the game scoreless through 57 minutes at Kal Tire Place.
But Vipers forward Kim scored the game winning goal on a shorthanded effort to give the Vipers a 1-0 lead with 2:57 left in regulation.
Julian Facchinelli added an empty net goal to make the final 2-0.
Game 4 goes at the Trail Memorial Centre tonight (Wednesday, April 10) with the puck drop at 7 p.m. Game 5 is scheduled for Vernon on Friday, April 12 and Game 6 on Saturday in Trail at 7 p.m.