They haven’t met all season, but the game today marks the first of two games in the span of a week between the Salmon Arm Silverbacks and Nanaimo Clippers.
Nanaimo just had a ten game winning streak snapped last night, and is on the tail end of a long triple header roadtrip. The team went to overtime Friday in Trail defeating the Smoke Eaters, but lost in Penticton Saturday night to lose for the first time since December 8th.
Salmon Arm played great last weekend to start 2019, but this weekend has had some bumps for the Silverbacks. Things started out Friday night losing 4-1 against the Vernon Vipers. It was the first loss Salmon Arm suffered to Vernon finishing the season series 5-1 and missing the chance to sweep. Last night in Powell River they led late in the game in two occasions, but the Powell River Kings tied things up twice and eventually won the game in a shootout.
Last season Salmon Arm swept the season series winning both games. On home ice in the Shaw Centre, there was a flurry of power plays as 15 in total were handed out. Nanaimo was two for seven on the power play while the Silverbacks were two for eight. Current Backs Hudson Schandor and Trevor Adams both scored in that game, while Justin Wilson had one assist. While in Nanaimo, Schandor had two assist while Wilson and Adams both had one goal and one assist.
In the Standings:
Salmon Arm currently sits fifth in the Interior Division. With the point last night, and a Warriors win over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, the Silverbacks are now six points back of West Kelowna. The Silverbacks have three games in hand, and one of those is today with West Kelowna not in action. The Clippers are right in the middle of the Island division after their ten game winning streak. Nanaimo is seven points behind the Powell River Kings for second, and 13 ahead of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Players to Watch:
Silverbacks: With two goals against the Clippers last season, Trevor Adams was the leading goal scorer for Salmon Arm against Nanaimo. He picked up an assist on the third goal of the game last night using a great burst of speed to gain the offensive zone. The assist gave Adams four points in the last seven games. A New Year has been a new start for John Little. Since being placed on a line with Justin Wilson on December 14th, Little has six points in nine games, and is currently riding a four game point streak. He had five points in the 27 previous games.
Clippers: It will be home coming tonight for Marcus Mitchell who spent two and a half seasons with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. The forward suited up in 121 games recording 61 points. His point per game average has jumped this season as a 20 year old with the Clippers. In 26 games he has 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points. Leading the Clippers in points this season is Ethan Scardina who has 42 points in 41 games. That’s a big improvement over last season when he had 26 points in 48 games.
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