Down 2-0 heading to the third? No problem.
It’s making Silverback fans go grey, but Salmon Arm is winning hockey games. Trailing 2-0 after two and badly outplayed, the Silverbacks found a spark in Logan Shaw to start the scoring, and had Sam MacBean score his first in the BCHL which was the eventual game winner.
Coming into the game with five straight losses, Trail was able to crack the scoring as on the tail end of a power play 2002 superstar Kent Johnson wove his way inside the offensive zone, and passed the puck off to the left for Layne Sniher. His shot from the left faceoff circle found it’s way inside the near post to give Trail the 1-0 lead. A turnover just a minute later nearly made it 2-0 for Trail, but Matthew Armitage making his BCHL debut for Salmon Arm was able to come across with the quick stop. Salmon Arm nearly tied things up late in the second, but a shot from Nick Unruh that took a nice deflection from Aiden Jenner in front was snagged by Adam Marcoux.
Penalties became an issue in the second for Salmon Arm and the Smoke Eaters would eventually go on a five-on-three. A cross ice feed knocked in by Kent Johnson was originally waved off as a no goal, but after consulting at the time keepers box the refs elected it was a good goal making it 2-0 for Trail.
Que the comeback.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the final period and being outshot 27-17 things did not look great for the Silverbacks. Instead of folding though, a forcheck four minutes in led by AP Niki Sombrowski was finished off by a backhand feed from Logan Shaw who scored his second goal of the season and first at home. Salmon Arm continued to pressure, and finally earned their first (and only) power play of the game with three minutes left. A point shot from Andy Stevens rebounded out, and Aiden Jenner was able to slap the puck in for his second goal of the season tying the game at two with 2:08 left on the clock. Just 27 seconds later Aiden Jenner won a faceoff to the point, and Sam MacBean received a puck. It took 77 BCHL games, but the big D-man sent a nice wrister from the high slot past Marcoux for his first goal in the BCHL. It was one to remember as it stood as the game winner in the 4-2 win.
Salmon Arm would take another late penalty, and Trail pulled the goalie but a bouncing puck in the right faceoff circle was batted by Hudson Schandor all the way down the ice and into the empty cage.
FAST FACTS:
- The loss was the 6th straight defeat for the Trail Smoke Eaters
- The win for Salmon Arm ended a 10 game losing streak to the Trail Smoke Eaters. The last win came on December 3rd 2016
- Starting in his first BCHL game, Matthew Armitage stopped 31 of 33 shots for the win
Key Performers:
As you’ll see in the highlight package, Matthew Armitage had to bail his team out on a number of occasions. Perhaps small by goaltending standards, he came up with some enormous stops. Not only did it keep Salmon Arm in the game, but it gave fans something to cheer about in the first two periods after there wasn’t much working in the offensive zone.
With a goal to tie the game, and assisting on the game winner Aiden Jenner IS big by player standards, and had a great performance against Trail. With Tyson Gayfer, John Little, Noah Wakeford, and Justin Wilson out of the lineup, Salmon Arm needed their forwards to step up and Jenner did just that. He was aggressive on the forecheck all night, and his two point performance was well deserved.
