The Silverbacks (9-8-0-2) will visit the Vernon Vipers (12-4-3-0) tonight (Friday) at 7pm, in the third meeting of the Interior division regular season series. The Vipers spoiled the Silverbacks opening weekend with a 5-1 victory in Salmon Arm on Friday, September 8th. And Vernon got by the Silverbacks 6-5 on Saturday, September 9th in the Okanagan.
The Vipers are 5-1-1-0 on home ice, 7-2-1-0 in the Interior and 0-0-1-0 in November after finishing October with a record of 6-3-1-0. Vernon began this month with a 4-4 tie at the Chilliwack Chiefs (9-8-2-1) this past Wednesday, November 1st. The Silverbacks are 3-6-0-1 versus the Interior, 3-4-0-1 on the road and finished October with a record of 6-3-0-2. Salmon Arm returned to the Shuswap early Monday morning after earning three of a possible six points on the road last weekend.
The Silverbacks came back to win 3-2 in double overtime at the Victoria Grizzlies (10-7-0-2) last Sunday afternoon. Victoria scored back-to-back goals in the first period, at 10:27 and 11:35. The Silverbacks outshot the Grizzlies 14-10 but trailed 2-0 into the second. Austin Chorney cut the deficit in half with his third of the season at 16:26. Salmon Arm lead 13-10 on the shot clock and 27-20 after 40 minutes. Trey Thomas’s fourth of the season and second of the weekend, a power-play goal tied the score 2-2 just 1:55 into the third. The Grizzlies outshot the Silverbacks 10-9 in the final period of regulation but 36-30 Salmon Arm overall. Neither team found the back of the net in 4-on-4 OT. But Noah Wakeford potted the winner, his fourth of the season and second of the weekend at 2:03 of 3-on-3 overtime. The Silverbacks power-play finished 1-for-6 on Sunday, while the penalty-kill was 2-for-2. The Silverbacks outshot Victoria 6-4 in the extra periods and 43-34 Salmon Arm total. Kyle Dumba made 32 saves on Sunday and earned his first win as a Silverback and in the BCHL.
Salmon Arm fell 5-1 to the worst ranked team in the BCHL at the Cowichan Valley Capitals (2-14-0-2) in Duncan on Saturday night. The Capitals opened the scoring on the power-play in the first period at 5:51, with Demetri Kambeitz off for hooking. Salmon Arm took three of the five penalties in the first, including four minutes for high-sticking to Wakeford and Akito Hirose for slashing. Cowichan Valley lead 9-7 on the shot clock. The Capitals scored the lone goal of the second period at 2:02 and Salmon Arm trailed 2-0 into the third. The Silverbacks outshot the Capitals 14-8 in the middle frame, 21-17 Salmon Arm overall. Cowichan Valley went ahead 3-0 at 2:57 of the third, 4-0 Capitals at 10:24 and another power-play marker with Spencer Hora off for kneeing. Kyle Dumba then relieved Bo Didur in goal, Didur allowed four goals on 24 shots and Dumba stopped all eight that he faced in his first weekend with the Silverbacks. Marcus Mitchell scored the lone goal for the visitors, his second of the weekend and eighth of the season at 11:08. Trey Thomas was penalized for hooking at 15:08. The home team finished the scoring into an empty net at 19:41, 5-1. Cowichan Valley outshot Salmon Arm 16-10 in the third and 33-31 Capitals total. Didur suffered his eighth loss in 14 games this season. The Silverbacks finished 0-for-5 on the power-play and 5-for-7 on the PK.
Salmon Arm began last weekend with 4-3 overtime loss at the Surrey Eagles (9-8-1-1) on Friday.
The Silverbacks have been outscored 75-63, including 34-27 on the road. Salmon Arm has allowed the second most amount of goals in the BCHL, while Vernon has allowed the third least amount with 40 and the Vipers have scored the third most amount of goals at 72. Vernon has outscored it’s opponent on home ice 27-16.
Rhett Kingston still leads the Silverbacks with seven goals and nine assists in his 15 games. Vernon is lead by Brett Stapley and Jimmy Lambert who are each tied for third in league scoring. Stapley has 12 goals and 14 assists in 19 games, while Lambert has nine goals and 17 assists in 18 games. The Vipers also have two of the top ranked goaltenders in the league. Anthony Yamnitsky is 5-3-1-0 in nine games with lowest goals-against average at 1.87 and the second lowest saves-percentage at .934, while Ty Taylor is 7-1-2-0 in 10 with the fourth lowest GAA at 2.13 and a saves-percentage of .921 which is ranked seventh. Bo Didur’s saves-percentage is at .867, and had a goals-against average of 4.18. Kyle Dumba has played two full games with the Silverbacks and has a GAA of 2.58 along with a saves-percentage of .926.
The Vipers have 296 penalty-minutes, the fifth highest total around the league while Salmon Arm has 256 minutes in penalties and the seventh highest total. The Silverbacks and Vipers are tied for the top ranked power-play at 25-percent. The Silverbacks have the most amount of power-play goals with 26, while Vernon is second at 23. Salmon Arm also leads the BCHL in short-handed goals-against with seven, Vernon has one. The Silverbacks penalty-kill is ranked 14th among the 17 teams at 76-percent, without a short-handed marker and with the second highest number of power-play goals-against at 24. The Vipers PK is 13th with the fourth most amount of PPGA at 21, but with the most amount of short-handed markers with six.
The Silverbacks will have tomorrow (Saturday) off of game action as the next home game is set for Sunday, November 5th versus the Powell River Kings (10-4-1-1) at 3pm.
Silverbacks home game tickets are available at the Box Office at the Shaw Centre. Adults $14, Seniors $12, $7 for Children under 12-years-old. Also, a family pack for $25 includes 2 Adult tickets, 2 Children’s tickets, along with 4 complimentary Silverbacks hats. Contact the Silverbacks at (250) 832-3856 and www.sasilverbacks.com
Each Silverbacks game is webcast PPV at hockeytv.com Each home game is broadcast, audio only at mixlr.com/salmon_arm_silverbacks/ Each road game is broadcast live via voiceoftheshuswap.ca CKVS 93.7 FM
