PHOTO: LISA MAZUREK PHOTOGRAPHY
Vernon, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks won their second consecutive game in overtime on Saturday night, edging the Vernon Vipers 2-1 in the extra frame, thanks to a fantastic goal from Sullivan Mack.
The Backs record improves to 2-2-1 with the victory, while the Vipers are now 3-1-1.
GAME SUMMARY
Salmon Arm came out flying in this one, dominating on the shot clock and getting some good looks, including a cross-bar from Joaquim Lemay and a post from Danny Ciccarello.
However, after 20 minutes, things remained 0-0, despite the 15-8 advantage in shots on goal.
The Vipers pushed back in the second period, generating some good looks of their own and bringing the shot clock to a much tighter 21-20 margin, yet the score still remained scoreless through 40 minutes.
Early in the third, things changed. Simon Tassy and Sullivan Mack converted on a 2-on-1 rush 32 seconds into the final frame. Tassy’s pass found Mack, whose initial shot was blocked, but he stuck with it, found the loose puck and put it home to open the scoring.
Mack’s game-opening goal was the fifth straight time this season the Backs have opened the scoring. With a secondary assist on the goal, rookie forward Noah Serdachny also increased his point-streak to a season-long five games. He has eight points (3G, 5A) in five games.
Unfortunately, the Vipers didn’t take long to respond, evening the game on their second power play of the contest just 2:55 later, courtesy of Ryan Shostak.
The rest of the period solved nothing, and so, extra time was needed for the third straight game.
This time, unlike Wednesday’s game between these two, Owen Say made what turned out to be a game-changing save on Tyler Carpendale, as teammate Lemay picked up the rebound and quickly fired a breakaway stretch pass to Mack, who deked the pants off James Porter Jr. and ended the game.
For the full boxscore, click here.
THEY SAID IT
“Little bit of a bold play there, but as [Head coach Tyler] Shattock put it, ‘Showtime Sully got the job done’. He’s an unbelievable player. He’s got so much talent. [Goaltender] Owen Say came up to me after the game and said to me right when he crossed the blue line he knew he was going backhand, toe drag, five-hole. So it’s one that guys on our team have seen quite a bit from him. I don’t think anyone was too surprised to see him pull it off.” – Silverbacks assistant coach Carter Cochrane
3 STARS
- Sullivan Mack – SA – 2G
- Owen Say – SA – 32 saves on 33 shots
- Ryan Shostak – VER – 1G
WHAT’S NEXT
The Silverbacks face the West Kelowna Warriors on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Fans can stream all games on BCHL TV!
