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Bucks continue to own Smokies, with back-to-back wins

Cranbrook sweeps season series over Trail, 7-0
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Blake Cotton (#22) battles to keep the puck away from Trail’s Ethan Willoughby (#5) and Mathieu Cobetto-Roy (#8) in the Buck’s 4-3 win over the Smoke Eaters on Saturday night. (Martin Ross photo)

The Cranbrook Bucks journey in the top ranks of the BCHL continued over the weekend, with two victories over the rival Trail Smoke Eaters.

The Herd now has a 7-0 record in seven meetings with Trail over the course of the regular season.

On Friday, Feb. 10, at the Trail Memorial Centre,the Smoke Eaters carried a 2-1 lead into the third period (Jeremy Tremblay scored for Cranbrook in the first period, on the power play). But Blake Cotton tied things up for the Bucks on a short-handed breakaway three minutes into the third, and Cooper Boulanger sealed the deal for the Bucks four minutes later with the game winner. .

Cranbrook outshot Trail 35-30 on Friday, and were successful on their only power play of the game. Trail had five power play chances, and scored on one of them. Carter Capton was between the pipes for the Bucks.

On Saturday, at Western Financial Place in Cranbrook, the Bucks came out strong early, with Rhys Bentham and Cameron Kungle giving Cranbrook a 2-0 lead in the first. Brody Juck got the Smoke Eaters on the board in the second, but Jaxon Fuder answered for the Bucks to make it 3-1.

Trail kept fighting — Brady Hunter made it 3-2 when he banked a shot off a Bucks’ defender and past goaltender Nathan Airey just seconds into the third period. But Bentham’s second goal of the game halfway through the period proved to be the game winner. Adam Marshall closed the gap for Trail with two minutes left. But the final score read 4-3, with Cranbrook outshooting Trail 35-25.

2,295 took in the game at Western Financial Place Saturday.

The Bucks are riding a four game win streak, and sit comfortably in second place in the Interior Conference of the BCHL, and third over-all in the league.

The Bucks are down in Washington State next weekend, for a double-header against the Wenatchee Wild, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18.

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Rhys Bentham (#5) snaps the puck over the shoulder of Trail goalie Keegan Maddocks (#1) for the Bucks’ first goal of the game in Saturday night’s 4-3 win over the Smoke Eaters. (Martin Ross photo)


Barry Coulter

About the Author: Barry Coulter

Barry Coulter had been Editor of the Cranbrook Townsman since 1998, and has been part of all those dynamic changes the newspaper industry has gone through over the past 20 years.
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