The Trail Smoke Eaters received a rude welcome from the Prince George Spruce Kings as the team dropped a pair of games over the weekend.
The Spruce Kings pummeled Trail 8-0 in the first match Friday with former Trail defenseman Ben Mathews picking up a pair of assists for Prince George.
The Smokies played better in the second game Saturday but still fell short in the 5-2 loss.
Clayton Chessa and Nickolas Wong continue to lead the Smokies.
After a scoreless first period, Wong gave Trail a 1-0 lead before the Spruce Kings’ Jujhar Khair tied it on a power play two minutes later.
The Kings would add two more before the end of the period to go up 3-1.
After taking a 4-1 lead, Chessa would cut it to 4-2 scoring his team-leading seventh goal of the season with six minutes remaining but an empty net goal by Paul De Jersey would ice the win for the Spruce Kings.
Matt Larose’s 38-save performance was a bright spot as he was also named the games third star in the loss.