The Cranbrook Bucks welcomed the Powell River Kings to Western Financial Place for the first time ever on Friday night, and it turned out to be a record-setting evening for the home team.
In just the second all-time meeting between the cross-conference opponents, Cranbrook had 2,633 patrons show up on Friday marking a new regular season record, and the most fans since 3,002 showed up for game six of last season’s playoff series against Prince George.
The record-setting crowd on hand witnessed the Bucks set a new franchise-high on the ice, as they scored 10 goals in a game for the first time.
Cranbrook and Powell River played to a fairly even pace in the opening period, with the Bucks outscoring the Kings 2-1 and holding a 19-17 shots advantage after 20 minutes.
The Bucks then exploded for five goals in the second period to take a 7-1 lead into the third, before adding three more in the final frame en route to the 10-3 win in a game that surpassed 100 shots on goal.
It was the second time in less than a week that Cranbrook used a five-goal second period en route to scoring at least nine in a game, after also doing so in a 9-2 victory over Cowichan Valley on Monday.
Just as he was on Monday against the Capitals, Bucks forward Jack Silich was the game’s first star on Friday after another multi-goal performance. With his two goals against Powell River, Silich now has seven goals and nine points during a four-game goal-scoring streak.
Jaxon Fuder was the game’s second star after scoring a pair of goals himself. Fuder now has three goals and three assists for six points in seven games after recording his third multi-point effort of the season.
The third star of the game was Jack Henry who scored a goal and an assist, and like Fuder, now has three goals and six points through seven games and three multi-point contests on the season.
Ethan Sundar scored his first BCHL goal in addition to contributing a pair of assists, while Cam Kungle tallied a trio of helpers for a three-point night of his own.
In addition to Silich, Fuder, and Henry’s two-point performances, the Bucks received two assists worth of production from Cooper Boulanger, Luke Pfoh, and Matthew Duarte, while Jaden Fodchuk tallied a goal and a helper for a double-dip of his own.
Duarte’s assists were his first points in the BCHL, while joining him and Sundar with milestone tallies was defender Bryce Sookro who scored his first BCHL goal.
Nick Peluso notched an assist in the game, as did veterans Rhys Bentham and Kellan Hjartarson, while Noah Quinn scored his third goal this season and Bauer Morrissey tallied his first of the year.
Bucks goalie Nathan Airey was surprisingly busy on Friday, stopping 42 of 45 Powell River shots in the blowout win. Airey is now 5-3-0 this season with a 2.87 goals-against-average, a .912 save-percentage, and one shutout.
Cranbrook improved its record on the season to 7-3-0 overall, and 4-1-0 at Western Financial Place.
The game’s official boxscore can be viewed here courtesy of the BCHL website, while a game recap from the Bucks website is here.
Cranbrook is back in action on Wednesday when the the Bucks visit the Penticton Vees to kick off a three-game road trip over four days this weekend.
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