Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks snuck by the Penticton Vees 4-3 on Wednesday night at the Shaw Centre, thanks to 32 saves from Ethan Langenegger and an early third period power play goal from Coalson Wolford.
With the win, the Silverbacks re-take the top spot in the Interior Division. Although both teams have identical 18-5-1 records, the Backs hold the tie-breaker because of their head-to-head record (2-0).
GAME SUMMARY
The Silverbacks came out sluggish to start this one, failing to register a shot on goal until past the halfway mark of the period. The Vees opened the scoring on a power play 9:03 into the opening frame, after Danny Weight redirected a Steve Holtz point shot into the back of the net. Just over four minutes later, Penticton would strike on the power play yet again after captain David Silye knocked home a loose puck for his seventh of the year.
The line of Sam Schofield, Logan Shaw and Holden Knights stole the momentum back for Salmon Arm late in the period, as the trio created a turnover in below the goal line, which led to Knights feeding a pass to Schofield out front, who cut the lead in half with 3:13 to go in the period.
The Backs then kept their strong play going, and with 47 seconds to go in the period, Drew Bennett found Daniel Rybarik right at the left face-off dot and he roofed a puck over the glove of Carl Stankowski to tie the game 1-1 on his 15th goal of the season.
Salmon Arm would get their first lead of the game 6:16 into the second, after Jayden Price led a 3-on-2 rush and found Dom Garozzo across the ice, who in turn fed a pass to Nick Martino that was redirected through the five hole of Stankowski.
With 4:45 to go in the period, the Vees would strike on the power play for the third time, this time on a silky finish from Lukas Sillinger, who dangled and then netted his 10th goal on the backhand.
After 40 minutes, the score was deadlocked 3-3, but the Backs were trailing in the shot department 24-15.
Just 1:04 into the third, the Backs power play came through, as Wolford tipped home an Akito Hirose point shot to give the Backs a 4-3 lead. It was the Backs first power play marker in the last five games.
Although the Vees continued to apply pressure at times in the third period, especially on their power plays (they had eight in the game), Langenegger shut the door, making 11 saves in the final frame to pick up his league-leading 15th win of the season.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
Ethan Langenegger, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Langenegger was busy right off the hop in this one, as the Vees led in shots on goal at one point 8-0. His third period was obivously his best, as he kept the Vees off the board entirely. He now owns a ridiculous 15-2 record.
Sam Schofield, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Schofield followed up a strong game on Saturday with another impressive performance tonight. He continued to get key penalty killing time and without his first period goal, the game may have gone very differently. He now has four points in his last seven games, after recording three in his first 11.
Lukas Sillinger, Penticton Vees: Sillinger was incredibly creative in this one and his second period goal was a beauty. The third-year Vees forward had two points on the night and has now equaled his point total from all of last season (26 points now in 24 games).
For the full boxscore, click here.
STAT OF THE GAME
Vees 3-for-8 on the PP: The Backs surrendered three power play goals for just the second time this season. One of the reasons the Silverbacks were outshot 35-20 in the game was because of all the shorthanded time they had to endure.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Silverbacks head to Penticton on Friday for a rematch with the Vees. On Sunday, the Wenatchee Wild come to the Shaw Centre.
Both games can once again be heard on 91.5 EZ Rock with the pre-game show starting at half an hour before puck drop (6:30 on Friday, 2:30 p.m. onSunday). Fans can also stream the games on HockeyTV.
