CIHL overall lead changes hands as Ice Demons and Smithers Steelheads share six points in two shoot-outs

The Kitimat Ice Demons moved two points ahead of the Williams Lake Stampeders as overall leaders in the Central Interior Hockey League after a split double shootout in Smithers this past weekend. The Ice Demons won 5-4 Saturday, after it took five shooters on each side to earn the winning goal, by Terry Whelan. Demons had come back with three goals in the last 10 minutes to erase a 4-1 lead by Smithers and earn the shoot-out opportunity. Whelan also scored the first goal of the game, and the tying goal. On Sunday, a desperate Smithers team dragged itself into a 5-5 tie with a goal by Jerry Watson on a point-shot on a juicy rebound with only three minutes left in regular time. Demons had led 2-0, and then took a couple of bad penalties, to allow Smithers to come back and then go ahead 4-2. The Demons then rallied again to score two to lead 5-4, as time wound down. Watson’s goal led to the second shoot-out in two games. The double shootout split was the first in the league since the new tie-breaker was introduced this season. Smither’s winner in the shootout was again scored by the fifth shooter, Casey Torbohlm. , who went high to beat Jamie Moran for his first loss of the season. Saturday, Brett Vilness stopped all five Smithers shooters and on Sunday Steelheads tender Jamie Holden stopped all five Demons’ shooters. Meanwhile, in the only other league action, two wild games in Terrace earned the River Kings four points for a Saturday win over the Omenica Ice, 6-5 and a 7-5 victory over the Ice on Sunday, in a game that ended with a line brawl, which could see suspensions result. The two wins by Terrace leaves the Kings with eight points from five games, four behind the Demons, with three games in hand. The two teams meet in Kitimat this Saturday, Nov. 17, in what is sure to be a crowd pleaser. The Kings have yet to win a game against Demons on Kitimat ice since they entered the league. The Ice remain in second place in the East Division of the League, two points behind the Williams Lake Stampeders, each with eight games, or have the season schedule played.