Monday 4 November 2013

Nick Deschenes goes unbeaten in first weekend.

The Trail Smoke Eaters took three out of a possible four points in their first two games with Nick Deschenes behind the bench.

The Smokies snapped a 10 game pointless streak Friday in a back and forth dual with the Victoria Grizzlies that ended in a 4-4 tie.

Unlike many games on Cominco Ice this season, the orange and black came out flying and were the first team to find the back of the net.

Jackson Purvis opened the scoring with his first ever BCHL goal after the KIJHL call up had a point shot ricochet off his knee at 11:34 of the first period.

Purvis was playing his second game in a Smoke Eaters' jersey and is no stranger to Deschenes as both were coming from the Grand Forks Border Bruins.

The 5'9" Lethbridge, Alberta native leads all Bruins with 13 goals and 17 points in 30 games this season.

Friday's slug-fest saw the two sides exchanging identical blows throughout the 70 minute contest.

Trail scored. Then Victoria responded. The Smokies netted two consecutively. The Grizzlies answered with a pair of their own.

Trail earned a powerplay marker in the third period but than it was Victoria coming right back on the man advantage just over two minutes later.

Both overtime periods were a series of transitional opportunities coming off big saves by each goaltender, as Trail's Dustin Nikkel and Victoria's Alec Dillion both hovered around the 30 save mark.

The game would finish deadlocked but the hometown fans were on their feet at the end of it all, cheering, clapping, showing their appreciation. They were pleased with the effort they had witnessed - possibly the best they've seen so far this year.

If they liked that they would have loved the way Trail played in West Kelowna the very next night.

The Smokies stormed back after the Warriors scored the first goal 13:21 into the match, netting five unanswered.

Jesse Knowler led the way with two goals and three points, bringing his weekend total to five.

During Friday's broadcast I mentioned, once or twice, how the Smokies could easily build of their effort against Victoria and carry some serious momentum into Saturday's game.

That would be an understatement.

Trail may have allowed the first goal and may have been outshot 47-27, however, they not only came back against (before the game) a team that had the second best record in the league, but they went 2 for 3 on the powerplay and in the last forty minutes were able to shut down the Warriors - the division's first place team.

It isn't necessarily time to celebrate just yet. Both outings are definitely commendable, especially for a team that didn't have many (if any) positives to focus on during a 10 game losing streak, but this is still a team with a lot of work to do.

Trail sits nine points back of the final playoff spot in the Interior division - something that belongs to the Penticton Vees, a team that has played five less hockey games.

Trail also gave up three leads in Friday's game and offered six power plays to their opponents in both weekend outings.

The Smokies are back on home ice Friday when they face off against the Prince George Spruce Kings.

The two clubs have met just once this year, when Trail traveled all the way up to the "Northern Capital" and doubled up the Spruce Kings 4-2.

The Smokies were able to keep their legs fresh after all that time on the bus but they will look to take advantage of a team that has to be on the road for over 12 hours and nearly 1000km.

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