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GAME PREVIEW: Warriors Look For Split In Game #2 vs. Smoke Eaters

The West Kelowna Warriors look for the series split as they take on the Trail Smoke Eaters in Game #2 of the best-of-seven Interior Division Quarter Final on Saturday night at Cominco Arena.

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Warriors vs. Smoke Eaters 2017/18 Schedule:

Friday, September 8th @ Cominco Arena (4-3 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)

Saturday, September 9th @ Royal LePage Place (4-0 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)

Saturday, December 9th @ Royal LePage Place (5-3 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)

Friday, December 29th @ Royal LePage Place (7-5 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)

Saturday, December 30th @ Cominco Arena (6-3 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)

Friday, January 19th @ Cominco Arena (2-1 Warriors) (BOXSCORE)

 

Warriors vs. Smoke Eaters Playoff Series Schedule:

Game #1: Friday, March 2nd @ Cominco Arena (6-5 Smoke Eaters/OT) (BOXSCORE)

Game #2: Saturday, March 3rd @ Cominco Arena (7:00 PM)

Game #3: Monday, March 5th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)

Game #4: Tuesday, March 6th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)

*Game #5: Thursday, March 8th @ Cominco Arena (7:00 PM)

*Game #6: Saturday, March 10th @ Royal LePage Place (7:00 PM)

*Game #7: Sunday, March 11th @ Cominco Arena (7:00 PM)

* – If Necessary

The Warriors and Smoke Eaters play in Game #2 of their best-of-seven series tonight at Cominco Arena with West Kelowna dropping the opener in this series by a 6-5 score in overtime on Friday night. Chase Dubois and Ryan Steele each had a pair of goals in the game for the Warriors while Jared Marino added a single in the overtime defeat. Nik Amundrud stopped 49 of the 55 shots he faced in the game in his first loss of the postseason.

Warriors Regular Season Scoring Leaders:

Chase Dubois (21-36-57)

Jared Marino (21-32-53)

Ryan Steele (19-34-53)

RJ Murphy (21-24-45)

Michael Ryan (7-37-44)

Warriors Playoff Leading Scorers:

Chase Dubois (2-3-5)

Ryan Steele (2-1-3)

Jared Marino (1-1-2)

Wyatt Head (0-2-2)

Parm Dhaliwal (0-1-1)

It was a big night offensively for Warriors forward Chase Dubois as he collected a pair of goals and five points in his 5th career BCHL playoff game. The Williams Lake, BC native was in on each of the five Warriors goals on the night and leads the BC Hockey League in playoff scoring after the first game and marked Dubois’ first five-point game.

The Warriors power play caught fire in Game #1 of the series, scoring four times in eight tries in the overtime setback. West Kelowna’s power play operated at a 20.8% on the man advantage throughout their 58-game regular season and exploded to 50% in their opening playoff game with Ryan Steele scoring two of those power play goals along with Marino and Dubois adding singles.

The Trail Smoke Eaters picked up a 1-0 series lead last night with that 6-5 overtime win with Kale Howarth scoring the game-winning goal in overtime plus another tally in regulation. Blaine Caton, Jeremy Lucchini, Andre Ghantous and Tyler Ghirardosi added singles in the game for the Smokies while Adam Marcoux stopped 23 of the 28 shots he faced in the game for his first career playoff win.

Smoke Eaters Regular Season Leading Scorers:

Ross Armour (21-42-63)

Kale Howarth (24-37-61)

Levi Glasman (24-28-52)

Carter Jones (15-30-45)

Andre Ghantous (19-25-44)

Smoke Eaters Playoff Scoring Leaders:

Kale Howarth (2-1-3)

Ross Armour (0-3-3)

Andre Ghantous (1-1-2)

Levi Glasman (0-2-2)

Blaine Caton (1-0-1)

The big guns were out for the Smoke Eaters on Friday night with Howarth and Armour each collecting three points in the overtime win. Howarth’s overtime goal was the first winning goal in extra time in the playoffs for Trail since Sam Mellor scored against West Kelowna on February 28th, 2011 in a 5-4 overtime win.

Trail collected 18 wins on home ice during the regular season and has won five of their last six playoff games at Cominco Arena. The Smoke Eaters defeated the Salmon Arm Silverbacks three times before picking up a win against the Vernon Vipers last season and then getting the overtime win against the Warriors last night. Trail has outscored their opposition by a 29-15 margin in those five victories.

Game #2 goes tonight between the Warriors and Smoke Eaters with a 7:00 PM puck drop at Cominco Arena and the pre-game show getting underway at 6:45 PM on the Warriors Internet Network and HockeyTV.com with the Voice of the Warriors, Trevor Miller.

The series shifts to Royal LePage Place for Games #3 and 4 beginning on Monday, March 5th for a 7:00 PM face-off. Children 16 and under get free admission with tickets available online at wkw.goticketpro.com, at the Warriors office, by calling (250) 769-7051 or at the box office ahead of the opening puck drop.