Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (28-21-5) host the Wenatchee Wild (29-22-4) in a massive game on Sunday night with third place in the Interior Division up for grabs.
This is the sixth of seven head-to-head meetings this season. The Backs lead the season series 4-2, winning the first four meetings: 3-2 on Oct. 4, 8-5 on Oct. 25, 4-2 on Oct. 26 and 3-2 in overtime on Nov. 17. The Wild have won the most recent two meetings, 3-1 on Nov. 21 and 6-5 on Dec. 13.
The Backs are currently in fourth place in the Interior Division, one point behind the Wild, who won on Saturday night against the Chilliwack Chiefs at home. The Vernon Vipers are tied with Salmon Arm at 61 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 the Merritt Centennials 4-2 on Saturday night.
Scoring for the Backs were Will Poirier (short-handed) and Noah Wakeford (power play). Grant Adams had a strong game, stopping 29 of the 32 shot he faced.
A Closer Look
The Silverbacks are 5-1-1 in their last seven games, out-scoring their opponents 27-16 in those games.
The club’s power marker on Saturday gives them nine power play goals in the last seven games and an efficiency of 32% during that span (9-for-28).
Only two of the Silverbacks’ last 11 games have been on home ice — both of them wins (6-2 on Jan. 31 vs Merritt and 6-2 vs. West Kelowna on Feb. 12). Overall, Salmon Arm is 18-9 on home ice this season.
If the playoffs started today, the fourth-place Silverbacks would host the fifth-place Vernon Vipers in the first round, facing off for the third straight post-season.
Leading Scorers
Akito Hirose (9-43-52)
Noah Wakeford (18-31-49)
Daniel Rybarik (28-16-44)
William Poirier (22-17-39)
Nick Unruh (11-27-38)
The Opposition
The Wild have won six straight games, including two huge ones on home ice this weekend: 5-2 over the Vipers on Friday and 4-2 over the Chiefs on Saturday. They allowed more than two goals just once in those six consecutive victories.
Before their six-game win streak, the Wild started the new year with a 4-6 record.
Wenatchee’s power play remains a strength, currently at 20.6%, fifth-best in the BCHL. They’re good at drawing penalties too, with the fourth-most power play opportunities this season.
Still leading Wenatchee up front is rookie Nick Cafarelli, currently with 40 points (17 goals, 23 assists) in 42 games.
The Wild are 11-12-3 away from home this season.
Leading Scorers
Nick Cafarelli (17-23-40)
Brian Adams (19-18-37)
Tyler Young (9-28-37)
Brett Chorske (17-19-36)
Matt Dorsey (10-23-33)
Notable Versus Wenatchee
The Wild are the only team the Silverbacks play seven times this season — the extra head-to-head being because of the Showcase.
Captains Akito Hirose and Brian Adams each lead the way for their respective clubs in head-to-head scoring, with seven points in the previous six games combined. Daniel Rybarik, Poirier and Wakeford each have six points.
The Silverbacks power play has been effective against the Wild this season, going 9-for-33 (27.3%).
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.
