The Trail Smoke Eaters evened up the Interior Division semifinal series on Wednesday night at the Cominco Arena with a gutsy 6-3 win over the Penticton Vees.
Smoke Eater defenceman Seth Barton netted the winning goal when his shot from the blue line sailed through a screen and past Vees goalie Adam Scheel for a 4-3 Trail lead with 5:55 remaining in the third period.
The goal came after the Vees battled back from a 3-1 third period deficit to tie it on a pair of goals, six minutes into the final stanza.
The game started on a tentative note with neither team generating any offence in the early going until the Vees Owen Sillinger was sent off for interference but also given a game misconduct on the same infraction. But it was Penticton that scored first shorthanded when Wyatt Sloboshan jumped on a defensive error and broke in all alone on Adam Marcoux, roofing it for a 1-0 lead with 2:55 to go in the first.
Trail replied 46 seconds later when Troy Ring worked the puck to Andre Ghantous in the high slot, and the Glendale, Calif. native wired it blocker side on Scheel to tie it.
The intensity picked up as the period wore on and a penalty to Barton with two minutes to play gave the Vees their second power play of the period. But an inspiring forecheck by Smokies assistant captain Ross Armour kept the Vees hemmed in their end in the final minute to kill the penalty. The Rossland native’s effort sent the crowd of 2,500 fans into a frenzy as the period and the penalty came to a close.
The Smokies went up 2-1 when Spencer McLean carried the puck behind the Vees net and sent a pass in front, which, after a brief scramble, was lifted into the back of the net by Carter Jones, 6:44 into the second period.
Armour was called for hooking with five minutes left in the period and Penticton pressed, however, goalie Adam Marcoux loomed large. He stymied the Vees on a 2-on-1, then the Smoke Eater goalie made the save of the night when the Vees Taylor Ward walked in on a breakaway but Marcoux made a windmill glove save to preserve the lead.
Trail went back on the power play when Dakota Boutin was sent off for high sticking with 1:32 remaining in the period. Smoke Eaters d-man Connor Welsh delivered a perfect pass to Kale Howarth at the top of the circle and the Red Deer native wired a one-timer past Scheel for a 3-1 Trail lead with 47 seconds left on the clock.
The Vees held a 21-15 shot advantage through two periods, but trailed 3-1 heading into the third.
However, the Vees weren’t done quite yet. Jonny Tychonick’s blast from the point flew into a gaping cage after Marcoux was sent sprawling by a Vees player who was deemed pushed into the Trail goalie by the Smokies defender five minutes in. Lukas Sillinger then redirected a Tychonick shot to tie the game just 22 seconds later to erase the two-goal lead.
Barton put the Smokies up 4-3 with six minutes to play, but left ample time for the Vees to tie it, just as they did the previous night with 19 seconds remaining.
Penticton pushed for the equalizer until Smoke Eaters forward Tyler Ghirardosi scored what might stand as the highlight of highlight reel goals of the 2018 BCHL playoffs.
Ghirardosi forced a turnover in the neutral zone, flew past the Vees forward, undressed Vees defenceman James Miller and fired the puck past Scheel for a 5-3 Smoke Eaters lead with just 2:44 left in regulation.
Penticton pulled Scheel in the final two minutes but the Smokies Armour forced a turnover at the Penticton blue line and delivered the dagger with 48 seconds left in regulation for the 6-3 victory.
Trail’s special teams went 2-for-4 on the power play, while shutting out Penticton on four chances. The Vees outshot Trail 31-25.
First star honours went to the Smokies defenceman Seth Barton, while Marcoux earned second star, and Tychonick for the Vees the third star.
Game 5 goes in Penticton on Friday with the puck drop at 7 p.m. before returning to Trail for Game 6 on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Cominco Arena.