Trail Smoke Eaters win two straight over Bucks and Spruce Kings on weekend

The Trail Smoke Eaters won back-to-back matches against the Prince George Spruce Kings on Sunday, Oct. 1, after beating the Bucks in Cranbrook in an OT thriller on Friday, Oct.9.

The Smokies started the BCHL Showcase in Nisku, AB on a winning note when forward Chase Nehring scored the game winner in a 4-3 victory over the Spruce Kings on Sunday.

Nehring finished a set up from Ty Izadi and Coleton Whitfield 3:24 into the third period to give Trail a 4-2 lead.

All 20 BCHL teams attend the annual Showcase and play two games in front of scouts from the NHL, NCAA, U Sports and more

With the two weekend wins, the Smoke Eaters improve their record to 4-4-0-0 in the Interior West, while Prince George falls to 5-2-0-0 just two points back of the Chilliwack Chiefs, the top team in the Coastal East division.

Trail jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from Erik Larson and Caden Stoltz early in the first.

But the Spruce Kings battled back with a power play goal from Trent Gates with 2:09 left in the opening frame and another at 11:41 of the second, when Ryan Wachtel beat Smoke Eaters goalie Marek Schlenker.

However, Roberts Polis restored the lead for Trail, scoring his second of the season on a power play with assists to Aleksandr Andriyashev and Ty Izadi at 16:49 of the third.

Izadi earned his third assist of the game with his helper to Nehring 13 seconds later for the game winner.

Prince George forward Cooper Faughnan scored a late goal with 1:33 left in regulation and pulled their goalie in the final 90 seconds but could not find the equalizer in the 4-3 Trail win.

Trail outshot P.G. 29-25 and went 1-for-3 on the power play, while the Spruce Kings were 2-for-4.

On Friday night, the Smoke Eaters stopped in Cranbrook and beat the Bucks 4-3 in an exciting overtime division battle.

Smokies forward Daniel Rassega scored the overtime winner and tallied his first of the season 94 seconds into the extra frame on a set up from Jaden Sikura.

Larson opened the scoring, with a power play goal from Rassega and Sikura at 8:12 of the opening frame.

The Bucks tied it early in the second and took a 2-1 lead at 14:30 on a goal from Mitch Patrick.

Moscow product Andriyashev tied it with his first goal of the season 72 seconds into the third, and Castlegar forward Brayden Rotach put Trail up 3-2 at 11:42.

Cranbrook forward Teo Pisani tied it at three with 9:16 to play and push the game into OT.

The Smoke Eaters outshot the Bucks 30-26, and scored once on four power plays, while going 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

Trail faces off against the Coquitlam Express at 2:45 p.m. MT on Monday, Oct. 12.

The Smoke Eaters will face off in West Kelowna against the Warriors on Friday, Oct. 16, before returning home Saturday, Oct. 17 for a tilt against the Chilliwack Chiefs. The puck drop goes at 7 p.m.