The Trail Smoke Eaters ended their eight-game run of frustration with a critical 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Surrey Eagles on Sunday.
Losses to the Victoria Grizzlies and Cowichan Capitals to open its three game road swing put even more pressure on the Smokies heading into its third game in three days, but Trail battled back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Eagles in a shootout at the South Surrey Arena.
“It’s always tough watching a team go through a time where you found ways to lose for three weeks,” said Smoke Eaters coach and GM Jeff Tambellini. “It’s tough.”
But more important, in Sunday’s shootout, the Smokies found a way to win.
Trail goalie Adam Marcoux stymied league-leading scorer Ty Westgard on the first shot of the shootout and Mathew McKim on the Eagles second try with a huge glove save. So after Smokies Owen Ozar wired a wrister past the glove of Eagles’ goalie Cayden Bailey to give Trail the lead, it was left to Kent Johnson to win it for Trail.
The 16-year-old Port Moody talent calmly walked in and made a slick backhand-forehand move beating Bailey for the game winner, and giving Trail its first win of the season in extra time.
The Smokies have played better than their record indicates and Friday was a perfect example. Trail dominated and outshot Island Division leading Victoria 41-32 but lost 5-2, then followed that up with a 6-4 loss to the Island cellar-dwelling Capitals on Saturday.
Trail is a young team, and a combination of new faces in the dressing room and returning injured players has given the Smoke Eaters a new look this month. Adjusting always takes time and, in this case, more than three weeks as their last win came on Oct. 13, a 4-3 victory over Powell River.
“You’re watching young players, who are all in new roles,” said Tambellini. “Young rookies playing junior for the first time, and second year guys for the first time becoming ‘The Guy’ and taking on major roles where the expectations are way higher. So it is going to take time.”
The Eagles opened the scoring on Sunday, when AP Nico Marini tallied his first BCHL goal beating Trail goalie Tanner Marshall 3:03 into the first period.
Trail answered two minutes into the second period. Bailey made a great glove save off of Braeden Tuck, but was unable to hold on as the puck popped out and right to Ozar who slapped in the rebound to tie the game at 1-1.
It didn’t take long for Victoria to respond. BCHL leading scorer Ty Westgard wound his way into the Smokies zone and dropped to Chase Stevenson who fired a backhand past Marshall for a 2-1 lead 66 seconds later.
Surrey went up 3-1 off a shot by Riley Hayles that deflected past Tanner Marshall with 13:55 to play in the middle frame. The goal ended Marshall’s night, and Adam Marcoux came on in relief.
Jimmy Darby gave the Smokies some jump when he laid out Westgard with a huge hit midway through the second, and a few words from Tambellini energized the team at the referee’s break.
“We were in the middle of it last night and we were down 3-1, and I said, ‘Nobody’s going to give us a 6-0 win to get out of this. We’re going to have to find a way to get one on the road, and that’s the only way we’re getting out of this.’
“Our guys were outstanding after that.”
Following a penalty kill, rookie Bryce Anderson made a couple slick moves into the slot and fired on Bailey who kicked it out right to Tuck and the Smoke Eaters captain buried the rebound to make it 3-2 with 2:24 to play in the second.
Surrey outshot Trail 17-12 in the period, but Trail completed the comeback in the third, when a turnover in front of the Eagles net surprised Bailey and Carter Jones capitalized to tie the game 3-3 with 9:19 to play and force OT.
The teams traded opportunities in the third period, and Trail had a chance to take the lead on a power play with 4:22 to play, but Bailey robbed Mack Byers on their best chance in front and the Eagles killed the penalty.
In the extra frame, Marcoux made a huge save off McKim seconds into the 3-on-3 extra frame, and Bailey dove across to rob Johnson with just over a minute left in extra time to keep it tied. A penalty to Trevor Zins with 1:49 remaining gave the Eagles a prime opportunity to win it, but a couple of great defensive plays by Powell Connor in the dying seconds helped the Smoke Eaters survive and win it in a shoot out.
“Our guys stepped up,” said Tambellini. “Adam Marcoux went in after a tough one the night before, and that was the goalie that won a playoff series last year. A lot of guys found a new level when they were exhausted.”
Trail outshot Surrey 36-32 and went 0-for-3 on the power play, but was a perfect 5-for-5 on the PK.
In Duncan on Saturday, the Smoke Eaters jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a Jeremy Smith goal, but critical mistakes in the second let Cowichan back in as the Caps scored three straight goals in the opening nine minutes to take a 3-1 lead.
Trail’s Hayden Rowen netted a power play marker with under four minutes to go in the second, but goals from Paul Selleck and Nico Esposito-Selivanov put Cowichan up 5-2. Rowan notched his second of the game and ninth of the season to cut the lead to 5-3 at 10:53, but Lucas Vanroboys restored the three-goal deficit just over a minute later.
Max Kryski tallied his first goal as a Smoke Eater with just six seconds left to complete the scoring.
In Friday’s match against the Grizzlies, Trail outplayed the Island Division leaders, but were repeatedly foiled by goalie Kurtis Chapman. Trail outshot Victoria 15-10 in the first period, but headed into the second in a scoreless tie.
The teams traded goals in the second period with Riley Hughes scoring for the Grizzlies and Jones for Trail. Victoria took a 2-1 lead early in the third before Anderson tied it with just over 13 minutes left. However, Charlie Campbell scored his second of the night midway through the period to give Victoria a 3-2 lead, and two empty net goals put the game away for the Grizzlies.
Trail’s record goes to 8-10-3-1, good for seventh in the Interior Division and seven points out of first. The tough winless run is a good indication of the parity throughout the league, and Tambellini and the Smoke Eaters know the road ahead is not getting any easier.
“At the start of the year, we were probably not as good a team as our record shows, and in the last three weeks we’re probably not as bad a team as the record shows that way. We’re probably somewhere in the middle and we’re going to be in a dogfight with the middle of the league, trying to go up and down. You’re right in the thick of it, and two or five points away from a major jump in the league.”
The Smoke Eaters host the Coquitlam Express on Friday at the Cominco Arena at 7 p.m., then travel to Penticton for their first game of the season against the Vees on Saturday.