SALMON ARM, BC- Simon Tassy scored his 12th of the season, but the Silverbacks fell 2-1 on home ice to the Cranbook Bucks in front of a Sunday afternoon crowd.
The Backs came out of the gate with a shooting mentality outshooting the Bucks 12-2 at one point in the opening period. However, it was the Bucks finding the scoresheet first again. After a Silverbacks faceoff win in their own zone, they failed to get it out, and the Bucks made them pay; Tyson Dyck made a centring pass from behind the net, right onto the stick of Noah Quinn, who beat Vanderkooi to make it 1-0. The Silverbacks were given a powerplay moments later after defenceman Jake Lammens was upended behind his own goal. The Silverbacks, who were 0/7 on the powerplay in last night’s 4-0 loss, failed to convert on their first opportunity this afternoon. With eight minutes left in the opening period, the Bucks doubled their lead after Dyck jammed home a rebound past Vanderkooi, making it 2-0. The Silverbacks outshot the Bucks 13-7 in the opening twenty.
In the middle frame, the Silverbacks came out a bit flat; it took them nine minutes to register a shot on Gartner. The Silverbacks got back-to-back powerplays, and they finally solved Gartner after the 50th shot on net the last five periods. Simon Tassy took the puck to the net and beat Gartner five-hole to cut the Bucks 2-0 lead in half. The goal was Tassy’s 12th of the campaign. The Bucks got a late powerplay when Aiden Lindblad went off for cross-checking. The Bucks peppered Vanderkooi with four shots, and he stepped up big, keeping the Backs in the hockey game. Although the Bucks outshot the Backs 7-5 in the second period, the Backs held the two-period total 18-14.
In the third period, the Backs continued to press for that equalizer, but Evan Gartner has answers for the Backs offensive attack. For the second consecutive game, the Backs controlled most of the play in the final twenty minutes, outshooting the Bucks 14-7. The Backs overall defensively in this game was good, minus a couple of mistakes that unfortunately ended up in the back of their net. They held the Bucks to single digits in shots each period. The Silverbacks got a golden opportunity to tie the game late when the Bucks were assessed a bench minor for too many men on the ice. However, the Silverbacks could not solve Gartner for the equalizer despite pulling the goalie and having a 6 on 4 advantage.
The Backs fall in regulation for the second time this season and fall to 9-2-1 overall on the year. However, they will be in action Wednesday night on the road when they travel to Vernon to battle the Vipers.
