Bruins 3 Silvertips 2 OT

Ken Henry, The Province

February 18, 2007

First, Cody Smuk shocked everyone in Prospera Centre by felling Everett Silvertips super pest Kyle Beach in a memorable fight. Then, Smuk and his teammates went one better by beating the Silvertips -- ranked No. 1 in the 59-team Canadian Hockey League -- on the scoreboard during Sunday's emotional WHL tilt in front of 4,243 appreciative fans.


Mark Santorelli scored the winner 1:39 into overtime, banging a rebound past Leland Irving and sending the expansion Bruins to a shocking 3-2 victory -- by far the biggest in franchise history.

"It feels great," Santorelli said. "When I scored I could hear our bench yelling, then everyone piled on top of me. That's the biggest goal of this year, for sure."

Despite the fact they were heavy underdogs, the Bruins were full value for the two points. They blocked shots fearlessly, out hit the 'Tips, and, as Beach can attest to, outfought them.

After Bruins captain Josh Aspenlind opened scoring on a dump-in from centre that took a funny bounce and snuck under Irving's arm, Beach asked Smuk to fight on the ensuing faceoff. Smuk obliged, and two seconds later Beach -- who is four inches taller than Smuk -- lay on the ice motionless courtesy of a right cross to the jaw. The scrap was reminiscent of Ed Jovanovski's bout that concussed Adam Deadmarsh during the 2000-01 NHL season.

Beach, 17, was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured jaw and concussion. "I was lined up and he asked me to go, so I said sure," said Smuk, 17. "I just felt my right hand go loose..."

The Bruins gained momentum after the fight, but ran into penalty trouble on some questionable calls by referee Trevor Hrycuik.

Ondrej Fiala tied the game on a man advantage late in the first period, then, after Oscar Moller had given the Bruins a 2-1 lead, Fiala scored on another man advantage late in the third to force overtime. With the victory, the Bruins (19-37-3-2) pulled into a tie with Kelowna for the fourth and final postseason berth in the B.C. Division. Kelowna has two games in hand.

ICE CHIPS: Jadon Potter,17, looked good in his Bruins debut. Potter will play three more games with Chilliwack before going back to the Prince Albert Mintos Triple A midget team. ... Silvertips star Peter Mueller missed the game with the flu.