SALMON ARM, BC- Mathieu Cobeto-Roy scored a pair of goals, and the team chipped in with three powerplay goals as they took down the Victoria Grizzlies 7-4 on home ice.
The opening few minutes of this out-of-conference matchup felt like a track meet, back and forth action, and limited whistles. Then, just 48 seconds into the hockey game, the Silverbacks were awarded a powerplay after Ellis Rickwood went off for tripping. Despite spending most of the two minutes in the Grizzlies zone, the top unit failed to convert, but it seemed like the team gathered momentum from that. Midway through the period, the Silverbacks cashed in on a broken play inside the Grizzlies zone. Nathan Morin pounced on a loose puck and dished a pass to a streaking Isaac Lambert, who received the pass on his forehand, took it to the backhand and beat Grizzlies goaltender Carter Woodside under the pad to give the Silverbacks a 1-0 lead. Moments later, with the Silverback’s top line on the ice, it was Simon Tassy turning over the puck at the blue line, and it sent defenceman Clark Hiebert in all alone, and he was robbed by Owen Say with the glove, preserving the 1-0 lead. The Silverbacks outshot the Grizzlies 12-9 in the opening twenty minutes.
The Silverbacks opened up the middle frame on a 2:00 powerplay, as Mike Ladyman went off for slashing, while Grizzlies forward Ammouse went off for spearing. However, the Backs couldn’t get set up, and the Grizzlies did well to keep them out of the zone. Right after the failed powerplay, the Silverbacks got into penalty trouble when Owen Desilets and Jake Lammens took penalties 1:30 apart, putting the Backs on a 5 on 3 penalty kill. As they say, your best penalty killer has got to be your best penalty killer, and Owen Say was exactly that stonning Wood on the doorstep to keep it 1-0 Backs. After they successfully killed off the lengthy 5 on 3 they gathered momentum. Midway through the second period Daniel Panetta, who was at the end of a shift, skated into the Grizzles zone and sniped a shot bar down over the blocker of Woodside, making it 2-0. It was the captain’s second of the year. Then on a Silverback powerplay, the one-timer off the stick off Mathieu Cobetto-Roy again was a lethal option for the Silverbacks. Matta put a pass right in Cobetto-Ropy sweet spot, and he ripped a shot over the glove of Woodside, making it 3-0. Cobetto-Roy has scored 3 of his 4 goals in that identical spot on the powerplay. And, Cobetto-Roy wasn’t done there. After a loose puck in front of the net, he pounced on it for his second of the night and 5th of the campaign, extending the lead to 4-0. The Backs outshot the Grizzlies 14-10 in the middle frame.
In the third period, there was a combined seven goals. The Backs dominated in the shot with a 16-8 advantage. Early in the third, the BCHL’s leading goal scorer Matthew Wood got a five-minute major and game misconduct for a blow to the head. But it was the Grizzlies finding the scoresheet, as Ellis Rickwood beat Say glove side cutting the Backs lead to three. But the Silverbacks responded just 41 seconds later while on the five-minute powerplay. It was a pretty play between Serdachny, Panetta, and Tassy. Tassy got a pass from Serdachny and ripped a laser past Woodside to extend the lead to 5-1. Still, on the same powerplay, it was, Santa Juana ripped a one-timer past Woodside for his third of the year. Rickwood answered with a powerplay goal to cut it to 6-2. Hartmann then got an opportunity, and he cashed in, as his shot went off the glove of Woodside and in for his first of the year. The Grizzlies added two late goals in the third to pull within three, but that would be as close as they come, as the Silverbacks hung on to win 7-4.
With the win, the Silverbacks improve to 6-0-1 on the season. They will be back in action Wednesday night when the Vernon Vipers come to town.
