The Silverbacks (26-15-4-4) won 7-3 over the Merritt Centennials (18-27-1-4) on Saturday night in the Nicola Valley, as the ‘Backs have secured a BCHL playoff spot. The Silverbacks scored five goals in the first period, one night after the Cents came back from a 2-0 second period deficit and won 4-3 in overtime in Salmon Arm.
Josh Blanchard opened the scoring in Saturday, with his 14th at 4:37. Cameron Trott’s 4th at 5:47 increased the lead to 2-0. Jared Turcotte deposited his ninth at 12:04. Mitch Skapski scored his third of the weekend and 10th of the season at 14:15. And Elijiah Barriga’s 13th gave the ‘Backs a 5-0 lead at 15:37 of the first period. Centennials starter Cole Kehler allowed five goals on 12 shots and was relieved by Colten Lancaster. Merritt lead 15-14 on the shot clock after 20 minutes.
Damian Chreck’s sixth opened the scoring 2:13 into the middle frame and the visitors lead 6-0. The Cents got on the scoreboard on the power-play after the ‘Backs were penalized for too many men on the ice, Colin Grannary’s 26th at 6:39. Chase Zieky finished the second period with his 25th at 19:11. The Silverbacks took a 7-1 lead into the third, after being outshot 13-5.
The Centennials scored the only goals in the final frame, Tyler Ward’s 17th at 2:30 and Grannary’s second and 27th at 7:26 on the power-play with Barriga off for charging. Merritt was awarded a penalty shot in the third, but Angus Redmond kept Mitch Lipon out. The Cents outshot the Silverbacks 8-5 in the third and 36-24 Centennials total. The ‘Backs power-play finished 0-for-4, while the penalty-kill was 2-for-4.
Angus Redmond made 33 saves, including a penalty shot for his 20th win of the season. The Silverbacks won three of the six games in the season series, with each team winning in each other’s building.
The ‘Backs now get set to host the Trail Smoke Eaters (20-30-0-2) on Tuesday night, February 9th at 7p.m. at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm. The Smoke Eaters beat the Silverbacks 5-3 in Trail this past Tuesday, February 2nd.
The West Kelowna Warriors (33-16-1-2) won 4-1 in Trail on Saturday night, after blanking the Smoke Eaters 9-0 on Friday in the West Kootenay.
The Silverbacks still sit third in the Interior, nine points back of the Warriors but the ‘Backs have three games in hand on West Kelowna. The Silverbacks are 13-10-1-1 on the road, and 16-7-1-4 versus the Interior. The ‘Backs have their first win of February at 1-1-0-1, and are 2-4-2-2 in there last 10 games.
Each Silverbacks and BCHL game is webcast live, PPV http://bchl.fasthockey.com as well as each ‘Backs road game is broadcast live at CKVS 93.7 FM http://voiceoftheshuswap.ca Each home game is broadcast at http://bit.ly/1s0deO7 Tune into CKVS each Monday night throughout the season beginning at 7p.m. for 30 minutes or more of Silverbacks talk, including interviews and news from around the BCHL.
