Burns Lake, BC – The 2023 BCHL Road Show kicked off on Saturday night with major interior conference playoff implications on the line. The Silverbacks (22-15-4-1) and the Spruce Kings (22-16-4-1) went to battle for the fourth time on the season in front of an full crowd at the Tom Forsyth Memorial Arena in Burns Lake. Both teams were coming off big offensive weekends as the Silverbacks scored thirteen times over two games, and the Spruce Kings put up twelve. Just one point separated the two teams heading into the night’s meeting.
It was a battle of two of the league’s best in between the pipes as Matthew Tovell (17-13-3-0, 2.60 GAA, .924 S%, 4 SO) got his 7th straight start for Salmon Arm, while Jordan Fairlie (19-12-2-0, 2.86 GAA, .985 S%, 3 SO) got the start for Prince George.
The teams were battling it out early in Burns Lake as both teams looked to gain the momentum early in front of a sold out crowd of 600+ fans. The physicality looked to ramp up near the midway point of the period. Prince George attempted to use their size advantage to gain some momentum, making several big open ice hits. One of those hits resulted in a penalty as Austin Fraser took an interference call in the open ice leading into the media timeout. Salmon Arm was able to capitalize on the first man advantage of the game as just 25 seconds in, Tristan Allen (6) fired a shot from the blue line which was able to beat Jordan Fairlie. The game seemed to have a shift in play following the goal as Salmon Arm went quickly back to the offence looking to extend their lead to two. Jordan Fairlie looked sharp in the later stages of the period which helped keep things close. Shots in the opening frame were 13-7 in favour of Prince George.
The middle period of play seemed to be a similar style to which we saw in the opening period as both sides looked to keep the game within striking distance of each other. Salmon Arm got themselves into penalty trouble in the middle frame as they went to the box on three separate occasions. Jules Bollard went to the box for a a tripping call, while CJ Foley went to the box on two separate occasions for hooking late in the period. It was a full team effort on the penalty kill for the Silverbacks as they found ways to get in front of the puck and turn away all the offensive zone time that the Spruce Kings earned. The game went scoreless in the middle frame, with the Spruce Kings outshooting Salmon Arm 12-6 in the period.
Period number three started off with a few extra seconds of power play time for the Spruce Kings, as the ‘Backs were able to kill off another Prince George man advantage. The parade to the penalty box continued in the early goings of the final frame as Jack Kurrle went to the box for a slashing call. The Silverbacks man advantage was cut short as Brandon Santa Juana took a holding call to nullify the final 28 seconds of the power play. Midway through the period it was a determined effort from Luca Primerano (8) as he was able to patiently out-wait Matthew Tovell to tie things up at one a piece to force overtime.
The ‘Backs went quick to work in the overtime period as CJ Foley (5) was the recipient of a slick pass from Nathan Mackie, and he was able to slide one by Jordan Fairlie to give the ‘Backs a 2-1 victory of the Spruce Kings.
Next up for the Silverbacks will be game two of the BCHL Road Show. Puck drop goes tomorrow at 12:00PM, and you can catch all of the action on Hockey TV!
Photo by XANDER HOLCOMB – Recap Courtesy of TONY TROZZO
