Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (3-2-2) will look to get back into the win column when they face off against the West Kelowna Warriors (3-2-1) on Thursday afternoon at Kal Tire Place.
The Backs are coming off a 6-5 overtime loss to Vernon, while the Warriors beat the Vipers 5-1 in their last contest.
Today’s game has a 1 p.m. puck drop.
Season H2H
| Date | Score | Record | Goalie |
| April 3 | 2-1 L | 0-1-0 | Say 38/40 |
| April 8 | 4-3 OTW | 1-1-0 | Say 31/34 |
| April 11 | 5-3 W | 2-1-0 | Say 32/35 |
Us
New Look Line Looking Good: The trio of Mathieu Bourgault, Danny Ciccarello and Julian Recine combined for three goals in Wednesday’s overtime loss to the Vernon Vipers. It was the first time they were put together and it certainly paid off.
“We were moving things around [Tuesday] in practice and those guys ended up together and they looked great,” Backs assistant coach Carter Cochrane said. “We thought we’d ride a little bit of momentum from the chemistry that seemed to form in practice.”
Need Killer Instinct: Salmon Arm blew a 3-1 lead on Wednesday, as they watched Vernon score four consecutive goals to take a 5-3 lead. A big part of this was their sluggish power play. While they showed urgency when they clawed back, the lesson is to put the game away when you’re up 3-1, not down 5-3.
“At 3-1, we made a choice to decide to play a little individual and just be a little casual, especially on the power play. Our power play as very indicative of our overall effort in the first 50 minutes. It was a wait and see approach,” Cochrane said. “The reality is we have to find it within ourselves to take that next step as a team and understand when a team is vulnerable and be able to put them away when it’s 3-1 there.”
Goals Goals and More Goals: After another five-goal output on Wednesday, Salmon Arm has now scored 21 goals in their last five games, after scoring just twice in their first two games.
Them
Coming Off Big Win Over Vernon: The Warriors beat the Vipers 5-1 in their last game, which was this past Monday. Carter Wilkie had a pair of goals, as did Cameron Hicklin, who lead their club in goals with five and four, respectively. West Kelowna scored five times on just 23 shots. Johnny Derrick picked up the win in goal.
Suspensions: At the end of Monday’s game, West Kelowna captain Elan Bar Lev Wise was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for fighting, and was given the instigator and aggressor penalties. This has resulted in a nine-game suspension for Bar Lev Wise, plus a three-game suspension for head coach Simon Ferguson.
Leading Scorers
Backs:
Points – Sullivan Mack (10)
Goals – Sullivan Mack (4)
Wins – Owen Say (3)
SV% – Owen Say (.899)
Warriors:
Points – Marcus Joughin & Carter Wilkie (9)
Goals – Carter Wilkie (5)
Wins – Zach Bennett (2)
SV% – Zach Bennett (.920)
Special Teams
Backs:
PP – 24.1% (6th) / PK – 68% (15th)
Warriors:
PP – 25.9% (5th) / PK – 81.8% (9th)
Players to Watch
SILVERBACKS: DANNY CICCARELLO
Ciccarello notched his first two goals of the Pod season on Wednesday and was part of a dominant line alongside Mathieu Bourgault and Julian Recine.
“The two biggest assets that he has are his speed and his strength,” assistant coach Carter Cochrane said following Saturday’s win. “We saw the different elements to his game [Wednesday]. He was able to drive a lot of the offence with his speed up the ice. He was able to be patient and create more time for him to make plays down low in the zone. Scored two goals in very different ways.”
WARRIORS: ZACH BENNETT
Bennett has been phenomenal against the Backs this season, stopping 95 of 104 shots thrown at him. Even though Salmon Arm has scored nine goals in those three head-to-head games, if it weren’t for him, those scores would be way more lopsided.
Tune In
As always, all games will be streamed live on BCHL TV, with the Braby Motors pre-game show getting underway at 12:45 p.m. BCHL TV is powered
