CRANBROOK, BC: Aidan Lindblad, Noah Serdachny, and Daniel Panetta found the scoresheet for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, and Owen Say stopped all 39 shots he faced as they defeated the Cranbrook Bucks 3-0 on the road.
Both teams traded grade-a chances in the early stages of the opening period. First, it was Bucks forward Noah Quinn finding some soft space between Silverbacks defenders for a clean shot on Backs goaltender Owen Say, but he stopped him point-blank. The Silverbacks had a chance of their own when Mathieu Cobetto-Roy took a pass from Isaac Lambert and got the puck up but was robbed by Bucks goaltender Nathan Airey. The Backs would be the first team to find the scoresheet moments later when Cobetto-Roy feathered a seam pass across to Aidan Lindblad, and he quickly ripped it up and under the bar for his second of the season and first since the opening game of the season in Merritt. Owen Say was extremely busy in the opening frame stopping all 20 shots he faced. There were no penalties in the first period, and the Bucks outshot the Silverbacks 20-6.
In the middle frame, the Silverbacks got an early opportunity to add to their lead when Johnny Johnson got called for cross-checking Backs Defenceman Mike Ladyman. However, the Silverbacks failed to generate any shots on the man advantage, as the Bucks killed it. Then right after the penalty was killed off, Owen Beckner was called for tripping, putting the Bucks on their first powerplay. They, too, like the Silverbacks in their first powerplay, could not generate much offence. In the second period, Owen Say was sharp again, not as busy as the opening twenty, but he stopped all seven shots faced. The Silverbacks added to their lead when Mike Ladyman picked up the puck in the offensive zone, nearly did a whole lap around the zone, and spotted an open Noah Serdachny at the side of the net for his 19th of the campaign; it was Ladyman’s second assist of the game. Simon Tassy picked up the secondary assist, and with that, he extended his point streak to 11 games. The Silverbacks were slightly outshot in the second period, 7-6.
In the final frame, the Backs outshot the Bucks 15-12, and both teams had chances to find the back of the net, but both goaltenders were sharp again as they were all game long. The Silverbacks almost got a gift when Morrisey bobbled the puck behind the net, but Morin couldn’t put it in the open net. The Backs added an empty-net goal late in the game, as captain Daniel Panetta blocked a shot at the blue line and raced to the empty goal to ice the game away. Owen Say turned aside all 39 shots he faced and picked up his BCHL leading 18th win of the season and third shutout. The Backs have now won three in a row and nine of their last ten. These two teams will see each other again tomorrow night for a 7:00 PM MST puck drop!
