The Spruce Grove Saints (5-7-1-0) make their second trip of the season across the provincial border as they head to BC to take on the Trail Smoke Eaters (8-5-1-1) on Friday night at Cominco Arena.
How To Follow:
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Breakdown:
Spruce Grove:
Overall Record: 5-7-1-0 (7th in Interior Conference – 14th in BCHL)
Home Record: 2-4-1-0
Road Record: 3-3-0-0
Power Play: 7-for-39 (17.9% – 14th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 33-for-41 (80.5% – 7th in BCHL)
Trail:
Overall Record: 8-5-1-1 (5th in Interior Conference – 7th in BCHL)
Home Record: 2-0-0-0
Road Record: 0-0-0-0
Power Play: 8-for-54 (14.8% – 18th in BCHL)
Penalty Kill: 41-for-54 (75.9% – 15th in BCHL)
Season Series:
Friday, September 27th @ Grant Fuhr Arena (7-2 Smoke Eaters) (BOXSCORE)
Friday, November 1st @ Cominco Arena (8:00 PM)
Friday, January 3rd @ Cominco Arena (8:00 PM)
Friday, February 21st @ Grant Fuhr Arena (7:00 PM)
Looking Back:
The Saints have won back-to-back games for the first time this season following a 5-4 shootout win over the West Kelowna Warriors on Saturday night at Grant Fuhr Arena. Max Seguin scored twice in the game while Owen Leckelt and Josh Polak added singles in regulation before Polak and Stephen Kirkpatrick netted goals in the shootout. Ryan De Kok turned aside 16 of the 20 shots thrown his way in the game as well as four of the five shooters faced in the shootout for his 1st win of the season.
Trail comes into action after a rare Wednesday night game in which they fell by a 5-2 score to the Brooks Bandits at Cominco Arena. Attila Lippai and Noah Ziskie each found the back of the net while Teagan Kendricks turned aside 34 of the 38 shots thrown his way in his 3rd loss of the season.
Saints Leading Scorers:
Josh Polak (8-5-13)
Keifer Miller (4-5-9)
Austin Peters (3-6-9)
Max Seguin (4-4-8)
Ryan Johnstone (4-3-7)
Smoke Eaters Leading Scorers:
Lucas Lemieux (6-9-15)
Evan Sundar (5-9-14)
Jason Stefanek (9-4-13)
Attila Lippai (5-7-12)
Judah Makway (5-6-11)
Who’s Hot:
Spruce Grove:
- Josh Polak – Forward – Strathcona County, Alberta
Goals in back-to-back games and four points over the weekend earned the Strathcona County, AB native an honourable mention for the BCHL’s Three Stars of the Week. Polak has registered points in three of his last four games and sits at a point-per-game pace on this season with his 13 points on the year.
- Max Seguin – Forward – Orleans, Ontario
Finding the back of the net twice in their shootout win over the Warriors last Saturday, Seguin has seen his offensive output start to rise with four points over his last four games and two of those contests being multi-point affairs. The Saints captain sits in a tie for 3rd in team goal scoring with his four goals.
Trail:
- Lucas Lemieux – Defenseman – Edmonton, Alberta – RPI
Only four games this season have not featured a point from Lemieux, who has been an offensive force from the blue line this season for the Smoke Eaters. The RPI commit is second in the league in goals from BCHL defenders with six on the campaign and has earned a point in three consecutive games and seven of his last eight contests.
- Attila Lippai – Forward – St. Paul, Minnesota – St. Thomas University
After playing last season in Penticton, Lippai was dealt to the Smoke Eaters in the summer and has had immediate success with his new group, collecting 12 points in his team’s opening 15 games of the year. A St. Thomas commit, Lippai has points in four of his last five games and sees himself fourth in team scoring.
The Saints and Smoke Eaters will meet for the second of their four head-to-head matchups this season on Friday night in Trail. Puck drop is set for 8:00 PM MST with the game being broadcasted live on the Saints Radio Network as well as streamed online on FloHockey.
