The SilverBacks got goals from five different players en route to a 5-1 victory over the Vernon Vipers Friday at Shaw Centre, in the first game of a home-and-home exhibition series.
Josh Bowes got things started early on a bouncing backhand from the right-wing side that handcuffed Vipers starting netminder Gunnar Neilson 38 seconds into the game. The goal was cancelled out 46 seconds later when Dallas Calvin fed Craig Martin for a one-timer in the left-wing circle.
Salmon Arm took the lead on their lone power-play just shy of the ten-minute mark, when rookie forward Thomas Plese roofed a wrist shot over Neilson after a nifty toe-drag around a Vernon defender.
The score remained static until the 13-minute mark of the second, when SilverBacks forward Evan Anderson increased the home side's lead to 3-1. Anderson strode down the left wing and fired a shot just under the glove of Vernon netminder Harrison Whitlock, who relieved Neilson at the midway point of period two.
Salmon Arm added to their lead in the third, first on a sharp wrister from the left circle by Harlan Orr, who recovered his own turnover and finished off a centring feed from linemate Carter Lukenda at 9:58.
Jeff Kennedy rounded out the scoring with 4:10 left on the clock, redirecting Bowes' low shot past Whitlock from the low slot.
Angus Redmond and Kyle Michalovsky shared the game, and the win between the pipes, combining to make 26 saves.
Up Next: The same two teams do battle again Saturday in Vernon (7:00, Kal Tire Place).
