The Silverbacks and Vipers will begin their Round 1, Best-of-7 BCHL playoff series tonight (Friday) at 7pm at Kal Tire Place in Vernon.
Salmon Arm finished the regular season with back-to-back victories, 8-3 at home over West Kelowna last Saturday and the Silverbacks won 5-4 in double overtime last Sunday in Penticton.
The Vees opened the scoring at 10:22 of the first period, 1-0. Grayson Constable was penalized for tripping at 12:35. The Silverbacks had their first power-play at 15:38. Brandon Whistle’s seventh of the season tied the game at 17:43, 1-1. And Constable gave the visitors their first lead of the game with his 10th at 18:19, 2-1.
The Vees lead 20-12 on the shot clock after 20 minutes.
The home team scored the lone goal of a penalty free second period, 2-2 at 7:56.
Penticton outshot Salmon Arm 11-4 in the second and 31-16 Vees overall.
Constable began the third period with a slashing penalty at 1:46. The home team capitalized on the power-play at 2:56 and went ahead 3-2. The Silverbacks had a man-advantage at 3:20. Penticton doubled it’s lead at 6:53, 4-2. The Vees were called for too many men on the ice at 9:40. And Whistle potted his second of the game and his eighth of the season at 10:28 on the power-play, 4-3 Penticton. Tanner Campbell tied the score at 14:38 with his 15th, 4-4. Campbell took the final penalty of regulation for high-sticking at 17:53.
The Vees lead 11-9 on the shot clock in third and 41-25 Penticton after regulation.
Penticton outshot Salmon Arm 2-1 in 4-on-4 overtime and 43-26 Vees overall.
The Vees took a penalty at 2:22 of 3-on-3 OT. And Tanner Campbell scored the winner on the power-play at 3:37, his second of the game and his 16th of the season.
Penticton lead 3-2 on the shot clock in the fifth period and the Vees outshot the Silverbacks 46-28 total. Kyle Dumba made 42 saves and finished the regular season with nine wins.
The Silverbacks were 2-for-4 on the power-play and 2-for-3 on the PK.
The Vees won the regular season series with four regulation victories, an overtime win and the OT loss.
Vernon won the season series with the Silverbacks as well, five games to one. The Vipers outscored Salmon Arm 27-14. But the Silverbacks won the final regular season meeting, 4-3 on December 30th in Vernon.
Salmon Arm finished 4-6-0-0 in February. The Silverbacks were 11-17-1-2 on the road in the regular season. Salmon Arm was 11-22-0-2 versus the Interior. Vernon was 7-1-0-0 in the final month of the regular season, including finishing with four straight victories. The Vipers were 21-5-1-1 on home ice. Vernon finished with a record of 26-8-2-0 within the Interior division.
Josh Latta will face his former team for the first time since moving from Salmon Arm to Vernon on December 29th, 2017 and in exchange for Brandon Whistle. Latta had one goal and four assists in 19 games with the Vipers. The 19-year-old of West Vancouver, BC had seven goals and four assists in 18 games this season with Salmon Arm which was his second season with the Silverbacks. Whistle had three assists in 16 games this past regular season with Vernon. The 20-year-old of West Kelowna, BC scored eight goals and six assists in 18 games as a Silverback.
Sol Seibel is set to return to action for the Silverbacks tonight (Friday) after his four game suspension for head contact following last Wednesday’s loss at home to the Vees. Salmon Arm’s Logan Mostat will be eligible to return tomorrow (Saturday) night as he sits out tonight (Friday) for game four of his four game suspension for head contact early in last Thursday’s loss in Merritt. Max Wutzke is recovering at his home just outside of Calgary, AB. The 19-year-old defenseman spent three weeks in hospital in the lower mainland following multiple surgeries on his left leg. Wutzke was hit into the boards early in the first period of the Silverbacks victory in Coquitlam on February 7th.
Game 2 is set for tomorrow (Saturday) night in Vernon. Games 3 and 4 will be at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 6th and 7th. Game 5 (if needed) will be back in Vernon on Friday, March 9th. Game 6 (if needed) will be at the Shaw Centre on Saturday, March 10th. The first six games are set for 7pm starts. Game 7 (if needed) will be at Kal Tire Place in Vernon on Sunday, March 11th at 6pm.
Tickets for the 1st two Silverbacks home games are on sale now at the Box Office. Game time is set for 7 PM both nights. Season Ticket holders have until 24 hrs prior to the 1st game to pick up their tickets or they will be released to the general public.
In the other Interior quarter final’s, Trail will host West Kelowna tonight (Friday) at 7pm. Penticton is at home to Coquitlam at 7pm. Wenatchee and Merritt began the post-season last night (Thursday) in Washington. The Wild blanked the Centennials 4-0. Game 2 of that Best-of-7 is set for tomorrow (Saturday) night in Wenatchee.
Season tickets renewals are also available during the Backs 1st two home games of the series or by stopping by the box office.
Each Silverbacks game is webcast PPV at hockeytv.com Road games are broadcast via voiceoftheshuswap.ca CKVS 93.7 FM and Home game audio is available at mixlr.com/salmon-arm-silverbacks
