Salmon Arm, B.C. — It’s a familiar foe for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks as they will try to snap a small two-game losing skid tonight against the West Kelowna Warriors at the Shaw Centre.
The two clubs have already met twice this season, once on Sept. 8 in a Backs 4-1 win at home and then last Tuesday when Salmon Arm tied the game late and then won 4-3 in overtime.
The Silverbacks are coming off a 4-1 loss on Friday and then a 3-2 overtime loss Saturday, while the Warriors fell 3-0 and 7-3 in a home-and-home series with the undefeated Penticton Vees.
3 Storylines
1) Wakeford on Fire
The Silverbacks have the league’s leading scorer in Noah Wakeford, who has 14 points in just eight games. The 5-foot-9 forward already has five multi-point games under his belt and has made a habit of cleaning up garbage in front of the net.
His five goals this season are already more than half of his entire total from 2018-19 (eight). His six power play points are tied for second in the BCHL.
On Saturday, Wakeford skated in his 100th career BCHL game, where he has so far tallied 72 points (20G, 52A).
2) Grab the Lead
The Silverbacks are 3-0 when leading after one period and 4-0 when leading after two. It’s easier said than done, but scoring the first goal of the game has been a key part of their success early on. They’ve shown the ability to come back, including last Tuesday against these very Warriors, but they’ve simply been dynamite when holding a lead.
The Warriors, meanwhile, are 0-4 when trailing after one period of play.
3) Bury Your Chances
The Silverbacks have out-shot the opposition in each and every game so far this season. This past weekend, however, they only scored three goals on 63 shots: a shooting percentage of just 4.7 per cent. In their previous three games, the Backs scored 14 goals on 124 shots, for a shooting percentage of 11.3 per cent.
Players to Watch
SILVERBACKS: JAYDEN PRICE
Price had a bit of a dry spell (six games without a goal) after scoring in his first career game, but he scored a beauty on Saturday to tie the game 2-2 against Coquitlam. He also picked up an assist in overtime last week against West Kelowna. The rookie has five points on the season. Saturday’s goal could help give him confidence to break out.
WARRIORS: BROCK BAIER
Baier stood tall one week ago when he made 40 saves in the Warriors 4-3 OT loss to the Backs. His .882 SV% on the season doesn’t tell the whole story.
Tune In
Tonight’s game will be aired on 91.5 EZ Rock as always, with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m. All games are also streamed live on HockeyTV.
