The Trail Smoke Eaters bounced back from a Friday loss in Vernon, and rolled over the Merritt Centennials on Saturday.
Smoke Eaters forward Teddy Lagerback netted a hat trick and Bailey Monteith stopped 27 shots in his first BCHL win as Trail downed the Cents 9-2.
Lagerback, a Chanhassen, Minn. product, opened the scoring two minutes into the first period, and Ridge Dawson put the Smoke Eaters up 2-0 with just 13 seconds left, as Merritt outshot Trail 12-10 in the opening frame.
But Trail broke it wide open in the second scoring six times to take an 8-0 lead into the third.
Connor Michaud scored on the power play and what proved to be the game winner, 2:42 into the second period to give Trail a 3-0 lead. Lagerback scored two more in the middle frame for his 10th and 11th of the season, along with Corey Cunningham, Coalson Wolford, and Zach Michaelis.
The Centennials tallied back-to-back goals midway through the final frame, and Brady Hunter notched his fourth point (1G,3A) of the game to make it 9-2 with 6:13 to play.
Trail outshot Merritt 38-29 and went 2-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-6 on the penalty kill.
Lagerback and Hunter earned first and second stars, while Jerzy Orchard was named third star for the Cents.
On Friday, Trail fell to the Vipers 5-3 in Vernon in what was the first meeting of the season between the teams.
Trail fell behind 2-0 after one, but came back to take a 3-2 lead on two second period goals from Hunter, and Quinn Disher’s shorthanded marker 7:10 into the third period.
However, Nic Kent drew the Vipers even three minutes later, and Luke Pakulak gave Vernon a 4-3 lead with four minutes remaining. The Vipers Cameron MacDonald added an insurance marker with 22 second left for the 5-3 final.
Vernon outshot Trail 40-31, for their sixth win of the season. After falling to Cranbrook 4-2 Saturday, the Vipers sit in seventh place in the Interior Conference with a 6-10-3-2 record. Trail is in fifth at 11-7-1-0, just ahead of Cranbrook with a 10-8-1-0 record.
The Penticton Vees lead the conference at 17-2-0-0 followed by the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, 16-4-1-0, West Kelowna, 13-7-0-0, and Prince George, 11-7-0-0.
Trail returns home with games versus the Vipers on Friday and the Vees on Saturday at 7 p.m.
