After a two-week holiday break, the Cranbrook Bucks picked up right where they left off on Friday night at Cominco Arena in Trail.
In the fourth meeting of the season with the Smoke Eaters, Cranbrook cruised to a 3-0 win on the road to extend a franchise-best win streak to eight games.
Bucks goalie Carter Capton stopped all 24 shots fired his way by Trail for his first shutout of the season and the second of his BCHL career.
Forward Jeremy Tremblay scored twice in the game, including this unassisted tally on Cranbrook’s first shot of the game to open the scoring.
Tremblay’s icebreaker at 7:11 of the opening period was his first since being acquired by the Bucks in a Dec. 2 trade.
The newest member of the herd would then score his second of the night at 5:20 of the middle period to give Cranbrook a two-goal lead.
The score stayed at 2-0 until the final second of the game when Donovan Frias buried an empty-net goal to finish the night off.
Capton was named the game’s first star after his perfect 24-save performance. He improved his season stat-line to 6-2-0 with a 2.35 goals-against-average, a .918 save-percentage, and one shutout.
Tremblay was the second star of the night with his two-goal effort. He is now nearly a point-per-game player with the Bucks, accumulating four points in five games since joining the team.
Add that to the nine goals and 11 assists he tallied in 19 games with the Hawkesbury Hawks prior to the trade, and he’s totalled 11 goals and 24 points through 24 contests this season.
After his first goal was unassisted, Nick Peluso registered the lone helper on Tremblay’s second goal for his second point in as many games.
Frias’ last second empty-netter was his 14th goal of the season, with Blake Cotton and Jarrod Smith drawing assists.
It was a milestone night for Cranbrook’s captain Rhys Bentham, who suited up for his 100th regular season game in the BCHL.
Not only did Cranbrook win its eighth straight overall — the Bucks have now won nine consecutive contests against Trail dating back to Dec. 17, 2021.
After winning the last nine head-to-head matchups, Cranbrook is now 12-9-2 all-time against its arch rival from the West Kootenay.
The same two teams will do battle again on Saturday night at Western Financial Place — a 6:00pm New Years Eve showdown.
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