Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (24-20-4) begin a home-and-home with the Merritt Centennials (10-34-4) on Friday night at the Shaw Centre.
This is the third of six head-to-head meetings of the season, as the Backs will face off against the Cents four times in their final 10 games. The Backs are 1-1 so far against Merritt this season, winning 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 8 and then falling 6-5 in Merritt on Nov. 9.
The Backs enter action one point back of the Vernon Vipers for third place in the Interior Division and three points ahead of Wenatchee for fourth.
Tonight’s game has a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Last Time Out
The Backs wrapped up a three-game road trip with a massive 3-2 win over the Surrey Eagles last Sunday.
Coalson Wolford scored his 10th of the season on a power play with 1:58 left in the third period to break a 2-2 deadlock and secure the Backs a key two points. Nick Unruh and Noah Wakeford also scored for Salmon Arm in the win. Grant Adams was fabulous in the crease, making 42 saves on 44 shots.
The Silverbacks finished their road trip with three of a possible six points, following an overtime loss to Powell River on Friday and a regulation loss to Victoria on Saturday.
A Closer Look
The Silverbacks are now 2-2-2 in their last six games. They have scored 14 goals in their last four games.
Salmon Arm’s power play is 3-for-11 in their last three, but they’ve allowed eight power play goals against in their last four.
The Backs are 16-9-0 on home ice this season, but 3-7 in their last 10 on home ice.
Leading Scorers
Akito Hirose (9-38-47)
Noah Wakeford (17-29-46)
Daniel Rybarik (26-14-40)
William Poirier (15-17-32)
Nick Unruh (11-21-32)
The Opposition
The Centennials have lost 12 straight games.
They are coming off a 6-4 loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs on Wednesday night. The game was 4-4 late in the third before the Chiefs struck on the power play with 5:09 to go. They added an empty-netter moments after Merritt’s Hunor Torzsok hit the post.
The Cents last win came on Dec. 20 in West Kelowna against the Warriors by a 6-2 score. Former Silverback Wyatt Marlow had the game-winning-goal.
Merritt has allowed 69 goals in their last 12 games (5.75 per game). In those 12 games, they’ve allowed less than five goals just once.
The Centennials are 4-18-3 on the road this season.
Leading Scorers
Christian Buono (9-23-32)
Payton Matsui (11-20-31)
Daniel Tkac (8-17-25)
Thomas Manty (9-15-24)
Rylan Van Unen (11-9-20)
Notable Versus Merritt
The teams have only met twice this season, with each clubbing winning once. Both were one-goal games, with scores of 4-3 and 6-5.
Nick Unruh has four points in the two head-to-head games, leading all active skaters, while Antonio Andreozzi and Drew Bennett each have three points.
Ethan Langenegger stopped 37 of 40 in his only start against Merritt.
Last season, Salmon Arm went 1-4-1 against the Centennials.
Upcoming Milestones
Akito Hirose: 1 assist from 100 career BCHL assists. Hirose will be playing in career game number 200 tonight.
Noah Wakeford: 3 assists from 75 career BCHL assists.
Tune In
Pre-game coverage on EZ Rock starts at 6:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will also be streamed live on HockeyTV.
