PHOTO: LISA MAZUREK PHOTOGRAPHY
Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (4-2-2) go toe-to-toe with the Vernon Vipers (4-3-1) for the fifth time this season on Saturday night at Kal Tire Place.
The Backs are coming off a 6-4 win over West Kelowna on Thursday, while the Vipers lost 3-2 to the Warriors 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 | 1-2-1 | Say 18/24 |
Us
Get the Lead: Salmon Arm has scored the first goal of the game in seven of their eight contests thus far. It’s a great thing to be able to do, but it can be frustrating when many of those leads don’t hold. Which leads us to our second point…
Hold the Lead!: Two games in a row now, Salmon Arm has seen a 3-1 lead evaporate.
On Wednesday, they watched as Vernon scored four straight to take a 5-3 lead and eventually win 6-5 in overtime. On Thursday, West Kelowna evened the game 3-3, but the Backs pushed back in the third and came away with a 6-4 win. What’s most concerning from Thursday’s win is the 5-4 goal that Carter Wilkie scored with under two minutes to go, as it came on a breakaway. The game should have been put away at 5-3, not 6-4.
“We wanted to make it interesting for the fans and everyone watching on Hockey TV, so we thought we’d have another tight one at the end,” Backs assistant coach Carter Cochrane said sarcastically after Thursday’s win.
PK Work: The Silverbacks penalty kill has been an achilles heel for them the past little while. They’ve surrendered five power play goals in the last three games alone, and that’s on only 10 kills, putting their penalty kill at 50% over that span. On the season, the Backs PK is 64.3%, the second lowest in the BCHL.
Them
Coming Off Loss to WK : The Vernon Vipers fired everything they had at Warriors goaltender Johnny Derrick on Friday night, but could only beat him twice on 44 shots, resulting in a 3-2 regulation loss.
Carpendale Big Addition: The last time the Backs and Vipers met, former Western Hockey Leaguer Tyler Carpendale was serving the second game of a two-game suspension. In his return to the lineup on Friday against the Warriors, he scored a power play goal.
Leading Scorers
Backs:
Points – Sullivan Mack & Noah Serdachny (12)
Goals – Sullivan Mack & Noah Serdachny (5)
Assists – Joaquim Lemay (8)
Wins – Owen Say (3)
SV% – Owen Say (.899)
Vipers:
Points – Ryan Shostak (8)
Goals – Jo-Jo Tanaka-Campbell (4)
Assists – Griffen Barr (6)
Wins – James Porter Jr. (4)
SV% – James Porter Jr. (.893)
Special Teams
Backs:
PP – 23.5% (6th) / PK – 64.3% (15th)
Vipers:
PP – 232% (1st) / PK – 72.7% (14th)
Players to Watch
SILVERBACKS: PHILIPPE JACQUES
Jacques scored his first career BCHL goal in Thursday’s win over the West Kelowna Warriors and he always bring it on the defensive end. The coaches have praised the rookie’s positioning and understanding of the game thus far.
“Talk about a guy who does the right things consistently. It’s what makes him such a good defensive player,” assistant coach Carter Cochrane said following Saturday’s win. “He’s in position really well all the time, but there’s a reason he had the numbers he did last year in prep — he has that offensive touch and I think it’s just been about him finding that comfort to play within the system.”
VIPERS: JO-JO TANAKA-CAMPBELL
Tanaka-Campbell had a standout performance the last time these teams met, with two goals and an assist. He was all over the ice and has seven points in eight pod games thus far, leading the Vipers with four goals.
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.
