The Silverbacks (7-3-2-0) will be in the West Kootenay tonight to take on the Trail Smoke Eaters (4-7) at 7:30p.m. at the Cominco Arena.
Tonight is the second of six regular season meetings, with the Silverbacks winning 5-2 at home over the Smoke Eaters on Saturday, October 3rd at the Shaw Centre. The next meeting is set for Friday, December 18th at 7:30p.m. at the Cominco Arena.
The Silverbacks went into West Kelowna last night and came away with a 4-3 victory over the Warriors in the first of six regular season meetings, and the first of three with the Warriors in October.
Marcus Mitchell opened the scoring with his third goal of the season at 17:22 and the visitors lead 1-0 after 20 minutes.
The ‘Backs outshot the Warriors 16-10 in the first frame with Angus Redmond starting in goal.
Colton Thibault and Mike Winnitoy each scored in the opening eight minutes of the second period and gave the Silverbacks a 3-0 lead. Thibault’s fifth at 1:22 and Winnitoy’s first as a Silverback and in the BCHL at 7:26 increased the lead to 3-0.
The Warriors finished the period with a pair of goals to cut the lead to 3-2. Rylan Yaremko at 12:11, and Garrett Forster on the power-play at 15:56 with Damian Chreck in the penalty box for roughing after the whistle.
The Warriors outshot the Silverbacks 19-5 in the second period.
Chase Zieky opened the scoring in the final frame, his fourth of the season and fourth as a Silverback at 4:15 put the ‘Backs ahead 4-2.
But Jonathan Desbiens power-play marker at 9:47 got the home team within one, with Ryley Booth penalized for roughing.
The Silverbacks finished 0-for-2 with the man-advantage and 4-for-6 on the penalty-kill.
The Warriors outshot the Silverbacks 16-2 in the final frame, and 45-23 total in favour of the Warriors. Angus Redmond made 20 saves for his sixth win of the season.
As well last night, the Smoke Eaters gave up three goals in the third period and lost 5-1 at home to the Langley Rivermen.
Logan Mick made his debut with the Rivermen, his first game of the 2015-16 season and first with the Rivermen after being moved by the Silverbacks last week in exchange for Chase Zieky.
The ‘Backs are now 3-1 in four road games, while the Smokies are 3-2 at home.
The Silverbacks sit alone in second in the Interior with 16 points in 12 games, one point ahead of the Vernon Vipers (7-6-0-1) and two up on the Warriors (6-4-0-2). The Penticton Vees (11-1) lead the division and the BCHL with 22 points and 11 consecutive wins after losing 4-2 to the Silverbacks to open the season on Friday, September 11th in the Shuswap.
The Smoke Eaters have now lost their last two games and are at the bottom of the Interior Division with eight points, four behind the Merritt Centennials (6-8) who sit in fifth. Trail has scored 35 goals in 12 games, while allowing 52.
The Silverbacks have scored 50 goals, ranked second in the BCHL and have allowed the fifth fewest at 33.
Nick Hutchison leads the Silverbacks in scoring with seven goals and 10 assists in 12 games, while Nick Halloran has four goals and six assists in 12 games to lead the Smoke Eaters.
The Silverbacks come into Trail with the fifth ranked power-play in the BCHL, at 20-percent and 13 goals. Trail is at the bottom of the 17 team league with five power-play goals and at 10-percent.
The Smoke Eaters penalty-kill though is ranked second at 87-percent, Trail has allowed seven power-play goals while scoring short-handed twice. The Silverbacks PK is fourth, over 84-percent with five short-handed goals and 12 power-goals against.
Each Silverbacks and BCHL game is webcast live, PPV http://bchl.fasthockey.com as well as each ‘Backs road game is live at CKVS 93.7 FM http://voiceoftheshuswap.ca
Tune into CKVS each Monday night throughout the season beginning at 7p.m. for 30 minutes or more of Silverbacks talk, including interviews and news from around the BCHL.
