The Trail Smoke Eaters got off to a fast start and never looked back, sinking the Penticton Vees 4-1 on Friday, Oct. 25, at Cominco Arena in the West Kootenays.
Ridge Dawson and Judah Makway scored for Trail in the first eight minutes of the affair, handing Penticton a 2-0 deficit before the opening frame reached its midway point.
The Vees (9-3-0-0) were unable to recover, with Max Heise serving as the team's only goal scorer.
“It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the game going down early," said Vees assistant coach Jason McKee. "We just didn’t get enough done in all three zones tonight and we could have played with more energy."
The Smoke Eaters (7-4-1-1) used another pair of goals early in the third period to extend their lead.
Penticton goaltender Will Ingemann was tagged with the loss in net after surrendering four goals on 22 shots.
His counterpart, Trail netminder Teagan Kendrick, stopped 34 shots and was named the game's first star.
The Vees are back in action on Saturday night, Oct. 26, when they host the Vernon Vipers.
"We will have to be better going forward, starting tomorrow night against Vernon," McKee said.
After Dawson and Makway opened the game's scoring to give Trail a 2-0 lead, Heise replied for Penticton late in the first period. The 18-year-old forward scored his team-leading fifth power-play goal of the season after taking a drop pass from defenceman Luke Posthumus.
Dylan Lariviere and Makway scored within a three-minute span in the final frame to give the Smoke Eaters a 4-1 lead.
Trail has now won four of its first five games at home to start the season.
The Vees, now 6-3-0-0 through nine road games, still sit second in the Interior Conference behind the Brooks Bandits.
Puck drop for Penticton's showdown with Vernon on Saturday is at 6 p.m.
