VERNON, BC- Daniel Panetta scored twice, and Owen Say stopped 21 of 23, as the Salmon Arm Silverbacks defeated the Vernon Vipers 4-2 on the road.
In the opening twenty minutes, it was the Silverbacks getting on the board first. After vipers defenceman Desmond Johnson went off for cross-checking Backs forward Noah Serdachny to the ice, the Silverbacks’ powerplay went to work. After some nice puck movement, Simon Tassy received a pass from defenceman Mike Ladyman, and he snapped a shot off the pad of Vipers goaltender roan Clarke Santa Juana, and he made no mistake roofing it past Clarke to Give the Backs a 1-0 lead. Their first lead since the Coquitlam game. The Backs nearly doubled their lead when Danny Ciccarello went end to end on a solo dash, but Clarke stopped him. The silverbacks got another powerplay late in the opening period but failed to convert. The Vipers were gifted a powerplay after Isaac Lambert went off for interference. They carried over 1:47 of that powerplay into the second period. The Backs outshot the Vipers 10-8 in the first period.
In the middle frame, the Silverbacks were tasked with killing the remainder of the carryover penalty kill. Unfortunately for the Silverbacks, Luke Buss came down the wing and beat Say five-hole to tie the game at one. The Silverbacks, though, were quick to respond. First, it was the captain with a magnificent individual effort, and he shielded the puck and fed Lavigne for a give and go, and he beat Clarke to give the Backs a 2-1 lead. Then while shorthanded, the Silverbacks leading goal scorer Simon Tassy darted down the middle on a shorthanded breakaway, and he beat Clarke with a nifty deke giving the Silverbacks a two-goal lead. However, that lead was short-lived as Liam Cavan let go a point shot, and the puck found a way through a screened Say, bringing the Vipers back within one.
In the final frame, the Silverbacks survived a late surge from the Vipers as they had a 6 on 5 advantage for the final two minutes, as Owen Say and Co. held down the fort to deliver a 4-2 win on the road in Vernon. Panetta added a late third-period goal into the empty net, just beating the buzzer to snap the silverbacks mini two-game losing streak. There was one penalty on each team in the third period. Tucker Hartmann went off for hooking, while Tyler Chan went off for boarding. However, neither team was able to convert on their opportunities. The Vipers held a slim 7-6 advantage in shots, but the silverbacks outshot the Vipers 27-23 overall. With the win, the Backs improve to 10-2-1 on the season. They will return home to battle the first-place West Kelowna Warriors this weekend for a pair of games.
