The Silverbacks came in to Langley on Friday Night with a bounce back game in mind, after Tuesday Night’s disappointing loss at home to West Kelowna.
It was the first meeting of the season between the Langley Rivermen and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, and marked the first meeting between the clubs since the 'Backs sent Defensemen Zach Urban to Langley in a trade for Defensemen Mark Whiteley earlier in the year.
In the 1st period of play, the SilverBacks found themselves down by a goal, as Langley opened the scoring at 6:44, when James Robinson’s 8th of the year was roofed over Angus Redmond's blocker. Salmon Arm then pressured, and it led to a power-play opportunity. They were going to have a two man advantage when Redmond left for the bench for a brief 6 on 4, allowing for Mitch Ferguson’s 3rd of the year, and 18th point of the season for a 1-1 game after 20 minutes.
The only goal of the 2nd went to Mitch McLain , the leading scorer of Rivermen, who put his team up by 1 goal, with just over 2 minutes to go in the Period; from Gage Torrel and Matt Ustaski, Langley quickly scored again after that, but the goal was called off, and the 'Backs trailed by a mere score of 2-1 heading into the final Period.
In the 3rd period, with Langley up 2-1, the SilverBacks had 20 minutes to respond; down by 1 goal, and were out-shooting the Rivermen by a count of 25-18 through the first 40 minutes. After failed power-play oppurtunities in the final frame of regulation, Alex Gillies made good on the back-hand; roofing a goal for his 28th of the year to tie the game at 2-2.
The only goal of the 2nd went to Mitch McLain , the leading scorer of Rivermen, who put his team up by 1 goal, with just over 2 minutes to go in the Period; from Gage Torrel and Matt Ustaski, Langley quickly scored again after that, but the goal was called off, and the 'Backs trailed by a mere score of 2-1 heading into the final Period.
In the 3rd period, with Langley up 2-1, the SilverBacks had 20 minutes to respond; down by 1 goal, and were out-shooting the Rivermen by a count of 25-18 through the first 40 minutes. After failed power-play oppurtunities in the final frame of regulation, Alex Gillies made good on the back-hand; roofing a goal for his 28th of the year to tie the game at 2-2.
Then; at 17:58, Blake Box got a 5 minute misconduct penalty, and at 2-2 the Backs found themselves short-handed late in regulation. Shots were 37-24 through regulation for the Silverbacks.
The first overtime started from Langley, and the Silverbacks had 2:50 of penalty time to kill, as former Silverback Zach Urban on the Power-Play took a shot that was tipped in front of the goal for a 3-2 Rivermen final.
The first overtime started from Langley, and the Silverbacks had 2:50 of penalty time to kill, as former Silverback Zach Urban on the Power-Play took a shot that was tipped in front of the goal for a 3-2 Rivermen final.
The 'Back visit Prince George on Saturday night, ending off their Mainland Division road trip.
