The Cranbrook Bucks have extended their franchise-best and the BC Hockey League’s longest current win-streak to nine games after a 5-2 triumph over the Trail Smoke Eaters on Saturday night.
Less than 24 hours after beating the Smoke Eaters 3-0 in Trail, the Bucks welcomed their arch rivals to Cranbrook for a New Year’s Eve showdown.
A franchise-record regular season crowd of 2,812 flooded Western Financial Place, and was given immediate reason to cheer.
Just 53 seconds into the game, Bucks forward Jeremy Tremblay scored off a nice setup from line-mate Blake Cotton to open the scoring.
Less than a minute later, Nick Peluso finished a nice passing play with Jarrod Smith to put Cranbrook up 2-0 just 1:44 into the game.
The game then took on a physical and defensive tone, staying at 2-0 into the third period.
At the 55-second mark of the final frame, Trail got on the board courtesy of a Nick Remissong tally from Brady Hunter and Adam Parsons.
The Bucks would regain their two-goal lead at 4:01 of the third when Luke Pfoh scored from Julian Frias to make it 3-1 Cranbrook.
Trail responded to get back within one at 8:07 on a goal scored by Adam Marshall from Mathieu Cobetto-Roy and Ethan Mann.
Cranbrook reclaimed its two-goal advantage on a power-play marker from defender Bauer Morrissey, assisted by Peluso and Cam Kungle.
Tremblay would put the game away with his second of the night from Cotton and Pfoh to secure the victory.
With two more goals on Saturday, Tremblay now has four goals in his last two games, and six points in his last four contests.
Carter Capton made 23 saves in the Bucks net for his fifth straight win.
Not only was it Cranbrook’s ninth straight win overall, the Bucks have now won 10 consecutive contests against their rivals from Trail.
Cranbrook is back in action on Thursday, Jan. 5, kicking off a three-game road trip in Merritt against the Centennials.
The boxscore for Saturday’s game can be viewed here from the BCHL website, while the game recap from the Bucks site is here.
Game highlights can also be viewed below courtesy of Cranbrook’s YouTube channel.
Bucks Network 