Seth Barton and Kale Howarth had a goal and an assist each and Adam Marcoux made 28 saves as the Trail Smoke Eaters evened up their series with a 6-3 win over the Penticton Vees on Wednesday night.
After the Vees opened the scoring on Wyatt Sloboshan’s fourth of the playoffs, the Smoke Eaters got goals from Andre Ghantous, Carter Jones and Howarth to take a 3-1 lead into the third period. Penticton rallied to tie the game after goals from Jonny Tychonick and Lukas Sillinger and it looked like the game was headed to overtime, but Trail went ahead late in the period on Barton’s first of the postseason and Tyler Ghirardosi and Ross Armour got the insurance markers as they held on for the win.
Howarth’s two-point night puts him in a tie for fourth in BCHL playoff scoring with 12 points. Vees offensive defenceman Tychonick finished the night with a goal and an assist and now has points in all eight of his team’s playoff games. With Trail’s win the series is now tied 2-2 with the home team winning every game. The series heads back to Penticton for game five of the Interior Division semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m
Sam Morton had two goals and one assist and Josh Arnold added another pair of goals as the Wenatchee Wild tied their series with a convincing 7-1 win over the Vernon Vipers. The Wild got off to a hot start with first-period goals from Arnold and AJ Vanderbeck and never looked back as they outshot the Vipers 39-20 as they continue their strong play at home this season. Morton’s three points put him firmly in the lead in BCHL scoring with 17 points in eight games. This series heads back to Vernon tied 2-2 with game five going Friday at 7 p.m.
