Wenatchee, WA: Danny Ciccarello scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to put the Salmon Arm Silverbacks ahead for good, as they downed the Wenatchee Wild 3-2 on the road.
The opening twenty minutes of Saturday night’s contest saw the Wenatchee Wild outshot the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 9-6. The Wild got the only powerplay of the period when Nathan Mackie went off for boarding. Owen Say, who was getting back-to-back starts for the Backs, picked up his first BCHL Shutout in last night’s 4-0 win stopping 26 shots. Say was up to the task on the penalty kill stopping the two shots he faced. The best chance if the period came off the stick of Cade Littler as he went in alone on Owen Say, but he was denied with the right pad, keeping it scoreless.
In the middle frame, the offence picked up on both sides. First, it was the Silverbacks striking first on the powerplay. After the first unit could not generate much offence, the second unit got their opportunity. Danny Ciccarello fed a streaking Lucas Matta, and Matta directed into the net to give the Backs a 1-0 lead. Moments later, it was the Panetta line that found the scoresheet. Panetta fed a pass out front to Ethan Ullrick, and Andy Vlaha stopped him, but Ulllrick stuck with it and jammed home his 4th of the season to give the Backs a 2-0 lead. The Wild, though, would respond with a goal of their own on the powerplay. Ean Somoza ripped a shot under the arm of Say to cut the Backs lead in half. That would be where things stood after forty minutes of action.v The Backs were outshot 13-10 in the middle frame.
In the final frame, the Wild began to push for the equalizer. Just as Somoza exited the box-fresh off serving his 10-minute misconduct, he got four good scoring chances in on Say, but Say stopped them all, keeping it 2-1 Backs. The Wild then got a bit of a lucky bounce, as the puck was shot in on Say, and he thought that he gloved it down, but the puck laid in the crease, and Cade Stibbe was all over the loose puck. 2-2 hockey game. The Backs immediately responded. Mackie fed a streaking Ciccarello down the right side, and he zipped it five-hole on Vlaha to regain the one-goal Silverback lead. It was Ciccarello’s third goal of the campaign. And that would be as close as the Wild would get as Say and Co shut things down the rest of the way. The Wild outshot the Backs 38-25 in the hockey game.
With the win, the Backs extend their winning streak to three in a row and move to 14-3-1 overall on the season. The Backs and Wild will play their final game of the weekend tomorrow night. Puck drop is set for 6:00 PM.
