SALMON ARM, BC: 24 days. That’s how long it’s been since the Salmon Arm Silverbacks have played in front of their home fans. If you remember, it was a 4-1 win over their rival Vernon Vipers. The Backs are coming off of splitting their weekend games. They dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime on the road in Vernon. It was just the second road loss of the season, but the team rebounded nicely with a 6-3 win in Merritt the next night. In that 6-3 win, the Centennials held two different leads. 2-1, and 3-2, but the Silverbacks stormed back with four unanswered in the third to take over the game. Will Lavigne scored his first BCHL in that contest in his 48th game as a Silverback. Liam Vanderkooi improved to 7-1 on the year and third against the Centennials. Simon Tassy and Brandon Santa Juana also extended their point streaks to eight consecutive games in the win. The Silverbacks are an impressive 13-0-2 record on the road this season. They are just as good at home with an 11-4 record. This is the fifth meeting of the season between these two teams. The Backs have won all four outscoring them 20-8 in the process.
Players to Watch:
Simon Tassy: Points in 15 of last 16 games and is riding a nine-game point streak. In four games against the Centennials, he has nine points. Tassy is tied for the league lead in goals with 27 and leads the pace with the points department with 52 in 30 games.
Owen Beckner: He is starting to find his offensive stride and got a look on the 2nd line this weekend with captain Daniel Panetta and Brandon Santa Juana. He scored the tying goal in Saturday night’s contest and kick-started their offence in the third period. He has scored a pair of goals in the last three games. Beckner has three goals five assists on the campaign.
Matt Bourgault: Like Beckner, Bourgault is hitting his stride on the offensive side. He’s been a staple on the top line with Tassy and Serdachny. He has scored in each of the last three games; Bourgault has 19 points in 28 games this season.
