Salmon Arm and Merritt both skated to their first tie of the season at the Nicola Valley Arena on Friday Night, after Merrit had come off a big OT win on Wednesday while Salmon Arm enjoyed a full week off after two wins over Trail last weekend.
Both teams had something to prove in this interior division battle, as this was the first meeting of the season, and from puck drop, to the end of 2OT, one theme remained constant; the play went back and forth which made for some entertaining hockey. Sebastien Pare; the games first star, got one of his two goals early on the power-play to snap the fresh scoreboard.
Salmon Arm answered back quickly though, as Brendan Kennedy; in his 4th game back got his 1st goal of the year to tie the game; Niel and Evan Anderson later scored and it was 2-2 after 20 minutes.
The 2nd Period went back in favor or the Backs, who out-shot Merrit 17-9, as Max Becker notched his second of the season as a 'Back.
The flood gates opened in the 3rd, and Merrit tied the game early, with another goal by the 1st Star Pare. Alex Jewell had one of his best games of the season last week against Trail and this week he scored again as providing some secondary scoring to tie the game at three. It wasn't long after that Merrit added inssurance as they got a 5-4 lead on a goal by Jeff Wight.
Alex Gillies notched his league leading 15th goal, coming up in the clutch to tie the game late. Landon Smith's two assists put him closer to the top of the BCHL points list. After both overtimes failed to draw a result the game ended 5-5. Clark and Kero were both solid in the goal on the Evening.
The Backs host the Coquitlam Express on Saturday Night from the Shaw Center for our innaugural Breast Cancer Awareness Night, come root on your Backs as 4 of the top 5 BCHL scorers will all be in action under one roof.
