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Say, Tassy, Penalty Kill Lift Backs over Warriors 6-2.

WEST KELOWNA, BC- Simon Tassy recorded another three-point night, Owen Say stopped 44, and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks killed off four of five West Kelowna powerplay’s as they went on to defeat the Warriors 6-2 inside Royal Lepage Place.

It was a fast-paced start in the opening twenty minutes, with the Warriors opening the scoring, as Jayden Price spun and shot it past a screened Owen Say to make it 1-0 Warriors. It was the first shot of the hockey game. But as they have done all year long, the Silverbacks responded quickly. Mathieu Cobetto-Roy ripped a shot right under the bar to tie the game at one apiece. Then, after a successful penalty kill, defenceman Lucas Matta picked the puck out of the box and fed a streaking Nathan Mackie, who then beat Warriors goaltender Johnny Derrick under the arm to give the Backs a 2-1 lead. The Warriors got another powerplay opportunity when rookie forward Ethan Ullrick went off for hooking. The Warriors made them pay, Felix Trudeau found himself open at the side of the net, and he roofed it off the post and in over the glove of Say to tie the game at two. That’s where things stood after twenty; the Warriors outshot the Silverbacks 12-9 in the opening frame.

In the middle frame, the Silverbacks started quickly; Mat Bourgault was able to jam home a loose puck in front of Derrick after it was tipped on the net by Tassy. Then the Silverbacks got into penalty trouble. First, Isaac Lambert went off for crosschecking. Danny Ciccarello then got the gate for slashing, and as Ciccarello was still serving, the minor Will Lavigne was assessed another crosschecking penalty. The Silverbacks were under siege and killed off a brief 5 on 3 opportunity. Owen Say came up huge in the three penalty kills, and the Backs bent but didn’t break, and it remained a one-goal lead. After all the penalty trouble, it was back to 5 on 5 hockey, and the Silverbacks quickly took advantage. Mike Ladyman snuck in from the point and roofed a short side shot for his fourth of the campaign, giving the Silverbacks a 4-2 lead The Warriors outshot the Backs 20-9 in the second period.

We got back to more five one five hockey in the third period. The Silverbacks finally got their first powerplay of the game when Trudeau went off for holding the stick. The Silverbacks cashed in as Tucker Hartmann found some space at the top of the point and roofed a shot over the blocker to give the Backs a three-goal lead. But, they weren’t done there… guess who? Yep, Simon Tassy scored yet another goal against the West Kelowna Warriors. He picked up the puck in the neutral zone, dashed in on a breakaway, deked to the backhand, and beat Derrick over the pad to give the Silverbacks a 6-2 lead. Owen Say was incredible tonight, stopping 43 of 45 shots raising his save percentage from .914 to .918, and lowering his GAA from 2.33 to 2.31. He is now 12-2-1 on the season.

With the win, the Backs improve to a franchise-best 16-3-1 record and extend their winning streak to five in a row. They will be back in action tomorrow night when the Spruce Kings visit the Shaw Center. Puck drop is 6:00 PM.