PHOTO: LISA MAZUREK PHOTOGRAPHY
Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (5-2-3) will try to avoid another overtime game tonight when they take on the Vernon Vipers (5-3-2) for the sixth time this season at Kal Tire Place.
Each of the last four meetings has gone to extra time. The Backs are once again in first place in the pod standings, after their 6-5 shootout win over West Kelowna on Thursday, while the Vipers lost in a shootout to the Warriors 2-1 on Monday night and currently sit one point behind the Silverbacks.
Tonight’s game has a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.
Season H2H
| Date | Score | Record | Goalie |
| April 2 | 4-1 L | 0-1-0 | Say 22/26 |
| April 7 | 6-5 OTL | 0-1-1 | Vanderkooi 27/33 |
| April 10 | 2-1 OTW | 1-1-1 | Say 32/33 |
| April 14 | 6-5 OTL | 1-1-2 | Say 18/24 |
| April 17 | 3-2 SOL | 1-1-3 | Say 29/31 |
Us
Needed Off Day: The win on Sunday for Salmon Arm was a bit sloppy, though it certainly provided some Grade-A entertainment and showed the fight this team has. With the Backs playing their fourth game in five nights for the second consecutive week, they were able to come back from two goals down to take a 3-2 lead, then went down 4-3, tied it 4-4, went down 5-4, and tied it again 5-5, before winning in a shootout. It was far from a coaches dream the way things unfolded and Monday’s day of rest was surely badly needed. Vernon had Sunday off, but played Monday.
True Top Line: It’s been mentioned before, but the Silverbacks top line of Sullivan Mack, Noah Serdachny and Simon Tassy remains the most dangerous trio in the BCHL. All three sit in the top-10 in league scoring: Serdachny with 16 points, and Mack and Tassy with 14 each. The line produced four of the five regulation goals on Sunday.
Special Teams!: The special teams line continued to be an issue. The Backs penalty kill has gone just 6-for-10 the last three games, and the power play has gone 1-for-12, including 0-for-6 on Sunday.
Them
Coming Off Shootout Loss to WK : The Vernon Vipers continue to have trouble with West Kelowna, who beat them again on Monday, this time in a shootout. This shootout was very similar to the Backs and Warriors from Sunday in terms of the quality of goaltending, as the teams combined to go just 1-for-12. Zach Brooks was the Warriors sixth shooter and ended the game, scoring the only goal of the shootout.
Leading Scorers
Backs:
Points – Noah Serdachny (16)
Goals – Sullivan Mack & Simon Tassy (7)
Assists – Noah Serdachny (10)
Wins – Owen Say (4)
SV% – Owen Say (.898)
Vipers:
Points – Ryan Shostak (10)
Goals – Jo-Jo Tanaka-Campbell & Ryan Shostak (4)
Assists – Griffen Barr & Ryan Shostak (6)
Wins – James Porter Jr. (4)
SV% – James Porter Jr. (.908)
Special Teams
Backs:
PP – 19% (8th) / PK – 63.6% (15th)
Vipers:
PP – 31% (3rd) / PK – 75% (11th)
Players to Watch
SILVERBACKS: HUNTER SANSBURY
Sansbury scored the shootout winner on Sunday evening and also fed the pass to Simon Tassy on the game-tying-goal. Funny enough, he also fed a breakaway pass to Tassy last season (Feb. 12, 2020) when he completed his first hat-trick against the Warriors at the Shaw Centre.
“Talk about a guy who wants the puck on his stick — he wants every moment,” Silverbacks assistant coach Carter Cochrane said after Sunday’s game. “He puts that pressure on himself to be everything for our team: captain, leader, power play, penalty kill, 5-on-5. He just wants all the responsibility he can handle. There’s not a lot of guys who carry themselves with the maturity and the dignity that he does at 20. Our guys are very lucky to have a captain like him to look up to.”
VIPERS: TREY TAYLOR
Taylor is the modern day defenceman to a tee, with an impressive skating and puck-handling ability, paired with a solid hockey IQ. He’s got three points in his last four games and had the primary assist on Ryan Shostak’s goal the last time these two teams met on Saturday.
Tune In
As always, all games will be streamed live on BCHL TV, with the Braby Motors pre-game show getting underway at 7:15 p.m.
