Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (28-22-5) travel to Chilliwack to take on the Chiefs on Wednesday night (25-20-11) in a must-win game if they want to catch third.
This is the second and final head-to-head meeting of the season. The Backs won on Oct. 11 at the Shaw Centre by a 2-1 score in overtime.
The Backs are currently in fifth place in the Interior Division, three points behind the Wild, who beat the Backs on Sunday. The Vernon Vipers are two points ahead of Salmon Arm at 63 points, but they’ve played one more game.
Tonight’s game has a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Last Time Out
The Backs lost to 4-1 to the Wenatchee Wild on Sunday night.
Scoring the lone goal for the Backs was Simon Tassy, now with four goals and three assists in his last six games.
The Silverbacks surrendered all four goals in the first period.
A Closer Look
The Silverbacks are still fighting for third or fourth place in the first round of the playoffs, either which would give them home ice in the first round. Even though they’ve gone 5-1-2 in their last eight, the problem is the Wild are 9-1 in their last 10 and the Vipers are 6-3 in their last nine.
Tonight is the Silverbacks’ game on hand on both teams they’re chasing. With a win, they draw even with Vernon in points, but do not hold the tiebreaker. Vernon’s final two games are against West Kelowna, while the Wild finish their season with two straight games against the Penticton Vees.
If the playoffs started today, the fifth-place Silverbacks would play the fourth-place Vernon Vipers in the first round for the third straight post-season.
Leading Scorers
Akito Hirose (9-41-50)
Noah Wakeford (18-31-49)
Daniel Rybarik (28-17-45)
William Poirier (22-17-39)
Nick Unruh (11-27-38)
The Opposition
The Chiefs are in a slide right now, having gone 1-6-2 in their last nine games. They’ve only scored 17 goals in those nine games combined (1.89 per game). Chilliwack was 6-2 in their previous eight contests.
One thing to watch for is the Chiefs power play, which is tops in the league at 26%. Their PK is also sixth-best at 83.3%.
Leading Chiliwack up front is rookie Nikita Nesterenko, who has put up 50 points (19 goals, 31 assists) in 54 games. The Minnesota Wild draft pick has a commitment to Boston College for next season. Also with a commitment to Boston College, but not for a couple seasons, is 17-year-old rookie Peter Reynolds, who ranks second on the team in points with 44. Reynolds just turned 17 a month ago (2003 birth year).
The Chiefs have gone 17-7-3 on home ice this year. An odd stat: Chilliwack is 1-5 in overtime and 1-6 in shootouts.
Leading Scorers
Nikita Nesterenko (19-31-50)
Peter Reynolds (14-30-44)
Cooper Moore (12-21-33)
Kyle Penney (17-15-32)
Brett Willits (12-20-32)
Notable Versus Chilliwack
The Chiefs and Silverbacks have only played head-to-head once this season. The Backs won 2-1 in overtime, thanks to Nick Unruh’s game-winning-goal. Ethan Langenegger was a star in the game, stopping 33 of 34 in the victory.
Scoring the other goal in that for the Backs was Hunter Sansbury, which was his first career BCHL goal.
The Silverbacks have played in Chilliwack four times in the last five years, going 1-3.
Upcoming Milestones
Noah Wakeford: 1 assist 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.
