Team Sites
Follow the BCHL
BCHL

Hirose’s OT Winner Lifts Silverbacks Past Centennials

Salmon Arm B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks escaped with a 4-3 overtime victory over the Merritt Centennials on Friday night at the Shaw Centre to improve to 17-4-1 on the season.

With the win, the Backs remain tied for first place with Penticton in the competitive Interior Division.

GAME SUMMARY

The Backs had a sluggish start to this one, as the shots on goal were just 12-9 despite having three power play opportunities in the first period.  Most of those were also from the outside of the ice.

Salmon Arm came out much better in the second period and got rewarded under a minute in. Nick Unruh fed a perfect cross-ice pass to Tony Andreozzi, who tapped it into the yawning cage at the 53-second mark for his second goal this season. The Cents would respond under two minutes later after defenceman Joey Berkopec entered the zone down the left wing and deposited his own rebound past Ethan Langenegger to tie things up 1-1.

Just 1:20 after the game was all knotted up, the Backs got a fortunate bounce while killing a penalty, after Noah Lugli’s 200-foot clear bounced off the end boards in a strange fashion and landed right on the stick of Unruh. Goaltender Ryan Winter was anticipating a normal ricochet off the end boards, but when it bounced over his stick, he was helpless and could only watch as Unruh swiped it into the open net.

The Silverbacks continued to create offence after going up 2-1 and were able to increase their lead to 3-1 at the 10:55 mark of the period thanks to Noah Wakeford. A point shot from Andreozzi was redirected by Drew Bennett and landed right on the stick of Wakeford, who out-waited Winter for his 10th goal of the season.

Langenegger came up with some huge stops to keep the Backs in front 3-1 after 40 minutes, as Merritt fired 16 shots on him in the second period alone.

Despite the Backs firing 19 shots on goal in the third, the Centennials were able to keep things tight thanks to Winter. With just over five minutes remaining in regulation, Langenegger made a huge stop on Payton Matsui, but just moments later,  Jake Mclean chipped a puck down the while to create a 2-on-1 with Matsui, who converted to the top corner on the backhand and make it a 3-2 game.

In the final two minutes, the Silverbacks drew a penalty but were then handed a minor of their own, which allowed the Cents to pull the goalie and make it a 5-on-4 advantage. With 23.1 seconds to go, defenceman Talon Zakell fired a point shot that hit a body in front and beat Langenegger to send the game to overtime.

In the extra frame, both goalies made huge saves, but it was Langenegger who had the last laugh. Moments after he stopped Josh Kagan on a breakaway, Unruh stole a puck in the neutral zone and led a 2-on-1 with Will Poirier. Poirier was stopped on the backhand in tight, but when the puck came up to the point, Winter couldn’t recover in the crease and Hirose’s point shot beat him to end the game in favour of the home side.

 

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES

Ethan Langenegger, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Nothing new here. Langenegger wasn’t too busy in what was a boring first period, but he was tremendous from the second period on, as the Backs allowed too many odd-man rushes. He is now the only goaltender in the BCHL with 14 wins.

Ryan Winter, Merritt Centennials: Winter faced a whopping 50 shots when all was said and done and made some huge stops to keep the game at 2-1 for a time and then at 3-1. It was the fourth straight game he has made 40 or more saves.

Nick Unruh, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Although he wasn’t credited with an assist on Hirose’s OT winner, Unruh got things started by stealing the puck in the neutral zone and turning it back the other way. He still finished with a goal and an assist, setting up Andreozzi  early in the second and tallying his first career shorthanded goal minutes later.

Tony Andreozzi, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: In his first game back since Oct. 25, Andreozzi netted a goal and an assist. Always looking to join the rush, the Brown University commit was making things happen offensively all night and also broke up a few key plays in the defensive zone.

For the full boxscore, click here.

STAT OF THE GAME

Silverbacks 5-1 in overtime/shootouts: After winning in extra time for the second straight game, the Silverbacks are now 4-1 in overtime and 1-0 in shootouts.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Silverbacks travel to Merritt to finish off the home-and-home on Saturday. Their next game after Saturday is Wednesday, Nov. 13 when the Penticton Vees return to the Shaw Centre.

The game can once again be heard on 91.5 EZ Rock with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m.. Fans can also stream the game on HockeyTV, although there have been some audio issues at Nicola Valley Memorial Arena in the past.