Game 15 Preview: Backs & Vipers

PHOTO: LISA MAZUREK PHOTOGRAPHY

Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (6-5-3) will look to make up ground on the first place Vernon Vipers (9-3-2) on Wednesday night at Kal Tire Place.

The Backs are coming off a 3-0 loss to the West Kelowna Warriors on Sunday, while the Vipers beat the Warriors 9-0 on Monday night.

Tonight’s game has a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.

Season H2H

Us

Forget About Sunday: Sunday was the first time the Backs had been held off the scoresheet this season. It was weird to see, as they’ve been averaging nearly four goals for per game.

“Out of the 14 games here in the pod, that was probably the game we looked the most tired and the most fatigued,” Backs head coach Tyler Shattock said. “We kind of ran into a scenario there where it just wasn’t our night, but I know that our group has responded well here throughout the pod and we’ll look for a good response against Vernon.”

With two full days between games, fatigue shouldn’t be an issue Wednesday, especially considering Vernon played Monday.

Good Defence Will Lead to Offence: While the Silverbacks couldn’t muster up a goal in their last game, defence will be the focus against Vernon, especially considering the last H2H meeting on April 24 was a 7-5 defeat.

Salmon Arm has scored 5 goals in a game against the Vipers three separate times this season, yet they haven’t won any of those three.

“Any time you score five goals, it should be enough to win a hockey game,” Shattock said. “The fact that we’ve done that and lost three times just means that we’re not sound enough defensively against those guys. They’re an opportunistic team and they make their chances count. So that means we’ve got to give them less of those.”

Them

Vipers Rolling: The Vernon Vipers have won four straight and are coming off the first blowout win of the entire pod, after beating West Kelowna 9-0 on Monday night. Head coach Jason McKee said while his team played well, particularly in their decision making in the neutral zone, he also thought West Kelowna just had an off-night.

“They looked a little fatigued and I think that’s going to be part of this pod. I don’t think it’s anything more than a one-off,” McKee said on Tuesday. “They’ll bounce back — I know that, but we’ll take it. I thought our group did what we needed to do — we did a lot of good things.”

During their current four-game winning streak, they’ve scored 23 goals and allowed just seven against.

Porter Jr. Has B2B SOs: Vipers veteran netminder James Porter. Jr. has recorded back-to-back shutouts in his last two starts — both against the West Kelowna Warriors. His last four starts have been against the Warriors and he hasn’t played the Backs since April 14, when he allowed five goals on 36 shots in a 6-5 overtime victory.

Leading Scorers

Backs:

Points – Noah Serdachny & Simon Tassy (20)
Goals – Simon Tassy (11)
Assists – Noah Serdachny (14)

Wins – Owen Say (4)
G.A.A – Owen Say (3.13)
SV% – Owen Say (.893)

Vipers:

Points – Ryan Shostak (15)
Goals – Tyler Carpendale (7)
Assists – Ryan Shostak (11)

Wins – James Porter Jr. (6)
G.A.A. – James Porter Jr. (2.17)
SV% – James Porter Jr. (.925)

Special Teams

Backs:

PP – 18.4% (9th) / PK – 66.7% (16th)

Vipers:

PP – 26.8% (3rd) / PK – 80% (T-8th)

Players to Watch

SILVERBACKS: DREW BENNETT

Three of Bennett’s four goals this season have come against the Vipers and he has recorded eight points in his last nine games. The Kimball Union Academy alum has found success lately with Cameron Recchi and Philippe Jacques.

VIPERS: TYLER CARPENDALE

Carpendale has been a force this season and he’s also on a roll with four goals and three assists during a current four-game point streak.

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.