Penticton native Kienan Scott picked a great time to net his first goal as a Trail Smoke Eater, scoring in overtime to give the home team a 3-2 victory over the Langley Rivermen on Saturday at the Cominco Arena.
With the score tied 2-2 midway through the first overtime period, Scott Davidson poked the puck away from a Langley forward in his own end, and made a great rush up ice, beating the defender and driving to the net, only to be stymied by Rivermen goalie Darren Martin who stopped Davidson point blank, then made a pad save on Bryan Basilico on the rebound, but Scott jumped on the loose puck and backhanded it over a sprawling Martin to give the Smokies their sixth win of the season.
Adam Todd was named the game’s first star after a brilliant performance in net for the Smoke Eaters. The Courtenay native made several key saves including four big stops in OT, blocking 36 shots and surpassing his win total of last year, in his fifth victory of the season.
The Rivermen opened the scoring when Gage Torrel pounced on a rebound and beat Todd at 6:43 of the first period. The Smokies special teams weathered a five-minute major midway through the period after Dexter McLeod knocked a Langley player off-balance and he went hard into the end boards. The game was delayed for about 30 minutes as the player was taken off by medics.
Trail would tie it with the lone goal in the second period despite being outshot 12-5, when Charlie Zuccarini forced a turnover and beat Martin with the backhand.
Harlan Orr would give Trail the lead two minutes in the third on the power play. Jake Lucchini sent Zuccarini streaking down the left side, his shot ping-ponged off the goalie then the defenceman, to Orr who slapped it into the open net.
However, the Rivermen would tie it 37 seconds later, after Todd denied Torrel with a nice pad save, Dante Hahn would bang in the rebound. Todd would shut the door after that, making several big saves including one in the dying minutes when he robbed UMass-Lowell commit Evan Anderson who took a cross-ice pass and fired it at the yawning cage, but Todd slid over and made a spectacular glove save to preserve the tie and bring it to OT.
The Rivermen outshot Trail 38-27, and went 0-for-3 on the power play while the Smokies were 1-for-5. Scott received second star honours, while Zuccarinin was named third star, and Jake Lucchini the game’s Fortis Energy Player of the Game.
The Smoke Eater next home game goes on Wednesday at 7 p.m. when they host the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in what will be a special promotion night. Admission is only $5, and one lucky fan will drive away in a new-to-you car as the Smoke Eaters raffle off a vehicle donated by AM Ford.
See more on the Smoke Eaters in Tuesday’s Trail Times.