Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks look to wrap up their opening round playoff series on Tuesday night when they take on the Victoria Grizzlies in game four of their opening round playoff series.
The Backs currently lead the best-of-7 series 3-0 after a 2-1 win on Friday night, a 4-0 win on Saturday night and a 3-2 win on Monday night.
Tonight’s game has a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Playoff Schedule – Round 1
Game 1: Friday, Feb. 28 – 2-1 WIN (Click for boxscore).
Game 2: Saturday, Feb. 29 – 4-0 WIN (Click for boxscore).
Game 3: Monday, March 2 – 3-2 WIN (Click for boxscore).
Game 4: Tuesday, March 3 – 7 p.m. at the Q Centre, Victoria.
*Game 5: Thursday, March 5 – 7 p.m. at the Shaw Centre, Salmon Arm.
*Game 6: Saturday, March 7 – 7 p.m. at the Q Centre, Victoria.
*Game 7: Monday, March 9 – 7 p.m. at the Shaw Centre, Salmon Arm.
*If necessary
Game 3 Recap
The Silverbacks came out flying on Monday, scoring twice in the first five minutes.
At the 3:48 mark, Luke Mylymok took a pass from Jeremy Gervais halfway down the wall and got free from Reid Lindsay by cutting towards the middle and finishing over the blocker of Liam Souliere.
Just 59 seconds later, Logan Shaw buried his first of the playoffs right off a face-off, beating Souliere under the arm to the short side.
Shortly after, the Grizzlies started to pick things up and got on the board at the 8:45 mark of the first period, courtesy of defenceman Reid Lindsay.
But before the period was done, the Silverbacks used a quick transition to re-gain their two-goal lead off a 4-on-1 rush, where Nick Unruh fed a cross-ice pass to Simon Tassy for his first career BCHL playoff goal and 3-1 Silverback lead.
In the second, Victoria got back to within one just before the halfway mark after Grizzlies captain Marty Westhaver hopped on a turnover in the slot and finished to the blocker side. Towards the end of the period, things got tense for the Backs, but Langenegger stepped up in a big way on more than one occasion to keep the score at 3-2.
In the third, the Grizzlies continued to push. Just under five minutes in, Langenegger came up big by stopping Andrew Amousse with the shoulder on a deflection in front. Victoria got a power play with just under four minutes remaining but didn’t pull the goalie and couldn’t find the equalizer. When they finally did pull Souliere for the extra attacker, the Silverbacks did a good job of getting in the shooting lanes and were able to eventually hold on for the 3-2 win.
Salmon Arm Leading Scorers (playoffs):
Luke Mylymok (3-1-4)
Drew Bennett (2-2-4)
Jeremy Gervais (1-3-4)
Akito Hirose (0-3-3)
Simon Tassy (1-1-2)
Victoria Leading Scorers (playoffs):
Marty Westhaver (1-1-2)
Alex DiPaolo (1-0-1)
Reid Lindsay (1-0-1)
Connor Eddy (0-1-1)
Brady MacDonald (0-1-1)
H2H Special Teams:
Silverbacks PP: 15.4 % (2-for-13)
Silverbacks PK: 100 % (10-for-10)
Grizzlies PP: 0 % (0-for-10)
Grizzlies PK: 84.6 % (11-for-13)
Things to Watch For in Game 3
1) Grizzlies Desperation: There’s no doubt Victoria played their best game of the series on Monday. Their out-shot the Silverbacks 30-24, their transition game was effective and they controlled most of the play for the final two periods. With their season on the line, that desperation will be on display once again, and the Silverbacks have to match it.
2) Backs Penalty Kill: The Silverbacks penalty kill only went to work once on Monday, but it did so at a crucial time: with under four minutes to go in the third and up by a goal. They were successful and the PK is now 10-for-10 in the series. Shot blocking remained a key to victory in game three and that will continue to be the case.
3) Start: If the Silverbacks can get off to the same start they did on Monday — scoring twice in under five minutes — it’ll go a long way towards closing things out. If the Grizzlies can score first, however, it’ll be an uphill battle.
Players to Watch
SILVERBACKS: ETHAN LANGENEGGER
The Silverbacks best player on Monday by a mile was Langenegger and it’s clear he’s back in a zone. With Victoria playing some desperate hockey, he could very well be busy on Tuesday.
GRIZZLIES: BRADY MACDONALD
MacDonald plays on the top pairing for Victoria, logs a ton of minutes and is strong in all areas. He registered an assist on Monday and finished the regular season with nine points in his final 13 games (three goals, six assists).
Tune In To Game 4
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.
