PHOTO: LISA MAZUREK PHOTOGRAPHY
Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (6-3-3) will try to hop the Vernon Vipers (7-3-2) for first place in the pod standings when the two meet on Saturday night at Kal Tire Place.
The Backs are coming off a 5-2 win over West Kelowna on Wednesday, while the Vipers shut out the Warriors 2-0 on Friday night.
Tonight’s game has a 6 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 |
| April 20 | 5-2 L | 1-2-3 | Say 18/22 |
Us
Need to Turn the Tide vs. Vernon: While four of the six games against the Vipers have gone to overtime this pod season, the fact remains the Backs have only one win in six tries against their biggest rival. And that stings.
“I think I speak for our entire group when I say I’m sick of learning these lessons against Vernon,” Backs assistant coach Carter Cochrane said after Tuesday’s 5-2 loss to the Vipers. “It’s been kind of a one-sided rivalry for the last five years here and it’s on us to change that. I think our whole entire group is extremely motivated.”
Capitalize: The last meeting, though it was a 5-2 loss, wasn’t a lopsided game at all. The Backs actually played quite well. They made a couple costly mistakes during a close game in the third, but overall they out-chanced Vernon, which is something they’ve been able to do consistently against them this season.
“If you look at our underlying numbers, we’re over four expected goals per game against Vernon this whole pod season,” Silverbacks head coach Tyler Shattock said. “We’re getting some good chances and a number of ones that our program is telling us could go in the net or should go in the net. I think we’ve been playing some good hockey against them. We’ve obviously been on the other end of the win column… and it seems like every time we play them, we just aren’t capitalizing on what our opportunities are.”
Special Teams: Both the power play and penalty kill have been cold and both were worked on in practice on Friday. Expect them to be better on Saturday.
Them
Coming Off Shutout vs. WK : The Vernon Vipers shut out the West Kelowna Warriors 2-0 on Friday night. It was James Porter Jr.’s first shutout of the pod season.
West Kelowna only managed 22 shots on goal all game and the first goal in this game wasn’t scored in the 7:48 mark of the third period.
Carpendale Hot: Forward Tyler Carpendale had both the go-ahead goal in the second period and the game-winning-goal in the third the last time these teams met on Tuesday. He also scored the game-winner against the Warriors on Friday. He has three goals and four points in his last two games and nine points on the season in 10 games.
Leading Scorers
Backs:
Points – Noah Serdachny (19)
Goals – Simon Tassy (9)
Assists – Noah Serdachny (13)
Wins – Owen Say (4)
SV% – Owen Say (.892)
Vipers:
Points – Ryan Shostak (12)
Goals – Tyler Carpendale (6)
Assists – Ryan Shostak (8)
Wins – James Porter Jr. (5)
SV% – James Porter Jr. (.916)
Special Teams
Backs:
PP – 17.4% (9th) / PK – 63.2% (16th)
Vipers:
PP – 31% (3rd) / PK – 75% (11th)
Players to Watch
SILVERBACKS: JOAQUIM LEMAY
Lemay cracked the double-digit mark in points on the season on Wednesday, after registering the primary assist on Tucker Hartmann’s game-winning-goal. The mobile defenceman activated down the wall after getting Warriors forward Cameron Hicklin to bite on a fake shot, and then proceeded to fire a cross-ice pass. All 10 of Lemay’s points are assists.
“He’s extremely talented. You can see his skating ability and his escapability,” Silverbacks head coach Tyler Shattock said earlier this week. “He’s been outstanding for us. It’s not a surprise to me and [assistant coach] Carter Cochrane in here because we get to see it every day. He’s one of those guys that’s very driven to get better. When you have a player with his talent level and then his attitude of always wanting to get better, it can make for a pretty special player and person.”
VIPERS: GRIFFEN BARR
Barr had an outstanding goal the last time these two teams met that made it a 4-2 score in the third period. He also added the empty-net goal. In six games against the Backs this season, Barr has six points.
Tune In
As always, all games will be streamed live on BCHL TV, with the Braby Motors pre-game show getting underway at 5:45 p.m.
