COQUITLAM, BC- Owen Beckner scored the winning goal in the 6th round of the shootout, and Owen Say stopped 38 of 41 to help the Silverbacks improve to 9-0-1 on the season.
It was a quick start for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on the road, outshooting the Express 10-1 in the opening 10 minutes. While on a powerplay, Danny Ciccarello pounced on a loose puck at the side of the net and was jammed it home past Express goaltender Connor Mackenzie giving the Silverbacks a 1-0 lead. The goal was Ciccarello’s second of the campaign. After a media timeout, the Express seemed to use that as a momentum shift, as they scored two quick goals. The first came from the backend, as Mathew Campbell activated in the offensive zone and roofed a backhand over the glove of Owen Say, tying the game at one apiece. Three minutes later, the Express added another, this time off the stick of Khalil Fontana, as a loose puck bounced right onto his stick and had a gaping net to shoot into, making it 2-1for the home side. Then late in the opening frame, Brandon Santa Juana was levelled from behind, resulting in the second powerplay for the Backs. Mathieu Cobetto-Roy took the place of Santa Juana on the top unit, and he made an immediate impact. He passed the puck down low to Simon Tassy, who quickly fed it backdoor to Noah Serdachny and he made no mistake beating Mackenzie over the right pad, tying the game at two. The Silverbacks cashed in on both powerplays in the opening period and outshot the Express 16-8.
The second period was a bit of a track meet, with the Express edging the Silverbacks 15-14 in the shot department. The Express got a chance to take their first lead of the hockey game when Mike Ladyman went off for tripping. But, despite a good opportunity by Arlo Merritt, they were unable to capitalize, as Say stoned him on the doorstep, keeping it a 2-2 tie. The Silverbacks, already with two powerplay goals on the night, got a chance to add to that total when Davis Frank got a four-minute penalty for holding and unsportsmanlike conduct. When you’re hot, you’re hot, and Mike Ladyman wristed a shot from the point, and it found a way past Mackenzie for Ladyman’s first BCHL goal and, more importantly, a 3-2 Silverbacks lead.
In the final stanza, the Backs held on to their one-goal lead until the nine-minute mark when Shane LaVelle went in alone on Say and get cut it to the backhand and got it under the pad to tie it at 3’s. The rest of regulation solved nothing, meaning for the second time in the last three games, the Silverbacks needed overtime. In overtime the Silverbacks dominated the puck possession, as the Express didn’t even register a shot on Say. Despite the dominance, they were unable to beat Mackenzie, meaning for the first time, we needed a shootout. Express forward Ryan Tattle scored the first goal of the shootout. Serdachny and Santa Juana failed to score, meaning it was up to Tassy to keep the game going, and he did just that with the deke to the backhand beating Mackenzie. Say stopped the next three shots, and there was an opportunity for rookie forward Owen Beckner to win the game. Beckner game down the middle and snapped a shot under the glove. Say stopped LaVelle to give the Silverbacks their 7th win in a row.
The Silverbacks are 9-0-1 on the season; they will be back in action next Saturday and Sunday at the Shaw Centre when the Cranbrook Bucks come to town.
