Salmon Arm B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks improved to 5-0-0 on Saturday night, thanks to a 5-3 win over the Victoria Grizzlies. It’s the first time they’ve begun a season with at least five straight victories since 2007-08, when they began the year with a 7-0 record.
GAME SUMMARY
It was a back and forth first period of play with tons of chances both ways, but for the fifth straight game, the Silverbacks opened the scoring. It wasn’t pretty, but Will Poirier threw a puck towards the net from the left-side hashmarks six minutes into the period that somehow beat goaltender Joe Howe to make it 1-0.
Several minutes later, the Backs took their first penalty of the game and Grizzlies forward Henri Schreifels made them pay by working his way past the defence and then tucking it past goalie Dylan Kruss to tie the game 1-1. Just two and a half minutes later, however, the Silverbacks responded a power play of their own, after Nick Unruh was left all alone in the slot and beat Howe underneath the arm.
After one period of play, the Silverbacks had a 16-12 edge in shots on goal and a 2-1 lead.
The second period on Saturday was better than the second on Friday for the Backs, but there was still some adversity, as the Grizzlies tied the game with seven minutes left on Schreifels second tally of the evening. The momentum was immediately taken back by Salmon Arm and eventually — after chance after chance after chance went by the wayside — Simon Tassy broke the 2-2 deadlock. After a couple of missed shots by Hunter Sansbury and Coalson Wolford, Tassy corralled the puck off the ends boards and chipped a puck into the back of the net.
Thanks to Tassy’s second goal of the season, Salmon Arm had a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes and a 33-22 edge in shots on goal.
Most of the third period went as planned, as once again the Silverbacks got a key insurance marker almost right away. Daniel Rybarik tapped home a perfect pass from Akito Hirose just 40 seconds into the final frame to double the Backs lead from one to two. With 4:09 to go in the third, however, Darwin Lakoduk made things interesting when he beat Kruss blocker side on a wrist shot get the visitors to within a single goal.
The Silverbacks responded to the ‘adversity’ almost instantly. Hirose fed Rybarik again, this time a long stretch pass from his own blue line that vaulted the winger in behind the defence, where Rybarik made no mistake for his second of the game and fifth of the season. The two Rybarik goals would be all the Silverbacks needed to hang on for a 5-3 win and increase their season-opening winning streak to an impressive five games.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
Daniel Rybarik, SA Silverbacks: Through five games, not only does Rybarik have five goals and nine points, but he also has three game-winning-goals. That’s an incredible feat and shows just how clutch he has been early on. He and Wakeford have been the Silverbacks best two forwards through five games — there’s simply no arguing that.
Akito Hirose, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Hirose shook off a slow start and played a tremendous third period. It wasn’t just his two primary assists that stood out, but how he was able to do more with the puck than he has in the first few games.
Hunter Sansbury, Simon Arm Silverbacks: He was ‘officially’ held off the scoresheet, but Sansbury will eventually be credited with an assist on Tassy’s power play marker. It wasn’t that point though that gets him the nod here. Sansbury must have had close to 10 shot attempts in this one. He and Akito Hirose were put on the same the power play so that Sansbury could be a better shooting position, so it’s only a matter of time before one of his many shots finds the back of the net.
STAT OF THE GAME
Rybarik 2G, including GWG: The Silverbacks going 2-for-6 on the power play was important, but that’s not what made the difference tonight. Instead, Rybarik’s two goals in the second half of the contest were what kept the Backs impressive win streak alive.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Silverbacks travel to West Kelowna on Tuesday to take on former teammate Trevor Adams and the Warriors at 7 p.m. On Friday, they host the Cowichan Valley Capitals and then they head to the mainland to take on the Coquitlam Express on Saturday.
As always, the pre-game show on 91.5 EZ Rock will kick off 30 minutes before puck drop. Fans can stream all games on HockeyTV. For tickets to Friday’s game, click here.
