The Trail Smoke Eaters are having to get used to a similar storyline early in the 2009/10 season; one that involves shooting often but scoring little. It was the Cowichan Valley Capitals who benefitted from that trend on Friday night, capturing a 3-2 victory in Trail despite being outshot by a 35-22 margin.
Curtis Gedig opened the game with his first of two goals on the night, converting on a power-play midway through the opening period to give the Capitals a lead. Trail bounced back with second period tallies from Tye Lewis and Sam Mellor that were scored just nine seconds apart, but Gedig's second drew his team even through 40 minutes.
It was Capitals' forward Nick Anderson who accounted for the winner, scoring less than a minute into the third period to put Cowichan ahead for good. The Smokies directed 12 shots at Caps' netminder Alexander Peck in the final frame but failed to tie the game.
Peck made 33 saves on the evening, while Trail's Kiefer Smiley turned aside 19 of 22 shots sent his way by the visitors.
Trail will have another chance for a win on home ice Saturday night when they host the Prince George Spruce Kings, while the Capitals continue their Interior Conference road trip with a visit to Vernon before concluding on Westside on Sunday.
