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Preview: Backs Wrap up Road Trip in Surrey

Victoria, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (23-20-4) will look to salvage their road trip on Sunday afternoon when they visit the Surrey Eagles (20-20-7) at 4 p.m. So far on their trip, the Backs are 0-1-1.

This is the second and final head-to-head meeting of the season. The Backs won the only other matchup this season by a 4-1 score on Oct. 23 at the Shaw Centre.

The Backs enter action one point back of the Vernon Vipers for third place in the Interior Division and tied with the Wenatchee Wild for fourth place. Salmon Arm holds the tiebreaker, so technically they sit in fourth.

Today’s game has a 4 p.m. puck drop.

Last Time Out

The Backs are coming off a 6-2  loss to the Victoria Grizzlies on Saturday night.

While Lucas Breault and Drew Bennett each scored for the Backs, there wasn’t much to be excited about. The Grizzlies led 2-0 after one period and had a 5-0 lead at one point in the second. Their power play went 3-for-7, while the Backs went 0-for-5.

This was the fourth consecutive loss for Salmon Arm.

A Closer Look

The Silverbacks are now 2-5-2 in the month of January. Yesterday was the fourth time this season the Backs have been beaten by four or more goals. In the last three games, the Backs have given up 17 goals.

Salmon Arm’s penalty killing has struggled for an extended period of time now, operating at 68% over their last 14 games (38-for-50).

The Backs are 7-11-4 on the road this season, but 1-7-2 in their last 10 away from home.

Leading Scorers

Akito Hirose (9-37-46)
Noah Wakeford (16-29-45)
Daniel Rybarik (26-14-40)
William Poirier (15-17-32)
Nick Unruh (10-21-31)

The Opposition

The Eagles are coming off a 7-2 victory over the Merritt Centennials on Saturday. Surrey had a 4-0 lead quickly turn into a 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission, but they struck three times in the third to secure the victory. Sean Ramsay had two goals while four others had two-point nights.

Surrey is 5-1-1 since the Jan. 10 deadline, when they acquired goaltender Reece Klassen. He has started every game since that date, sporting a 2.13 G.A.A and .924 SV%.

Forward Christophe Tellier is having a phenomenal season, currently third in the BCHL in points with 56 and tied for second in the league in goals with Daniel Rybarik (26). Former Silverback forward Hudson Schandor is also having a career year with 50 points (18G, 32A) and enters Sunday’s action riding an eight-game point streak (4G, 10A).

The Eagles are 7-8-5 on home ice this season and 6-3-1 in their last 10.

Leading Scorers

Christophe Tellier (26-30-56)
Hudson Schandor (18-32-50)
Brandon Santa Juana (11-21-32)
Gabe Schovanek (10-19-29)
Carter King (9-11-20)

Notable Versus Surrey

The teams have only met once this season, but in that game Backs forward Noah Wakeford had two goals, while captain Akito Hirose had two assists.

The Silverbacks have only squared off against the Eagles four times on the road in the last five years, going 2-1-1. Last year, Salmon Arm won their lone visit 4-3 in overtime on Dec. 9, 2018.

Upcoming Milestones

Akito Hirose: 2 assists from 100 career BCHL assists. Also 2 games from 200 career BCHL games played.

Noah Wakeford: 3 assists from 75 career BCHL assists.

Tune In

Pre-game coverage on EZ Rock starts at 3:30 p.m. with puck drop scheduled for 4 p.m. The game will also be streamed live on HockeyTV.