Salmon Arm, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (19-7-1) travel to Vernon on Friday night to take on the Vipers (13-10-2) for the first time this season.
It’s the first of six meetings this season, all six of which will take place in the next 18 games, meaning every third game between now and mid-January will be against their most-hated rival. The Interior Division foes will meet again next weekend in Salmon Arm on Nov. 30, plus they’ll see one another Dec. 28 and 29, Jan. 12 and 19.
Tonight’s game has a 7 p.m. puck drop.
Last Time Out
The Backs will be looking for a bounce back effort tonight, after falling 3-1 to the Wenatchee Wild on home ice on Thursday.
Salmon Arm was out-shot for just the sixth time this season.
Before that, the Backs beat the Wild on Sunday afternoon 3-2 in overtime, when their penalty kill went 8-for-8 and forward Nick Unruh scored his second OT winner of the season.
A Closer Look
The Backs continue to be led in scoring by standout defenceman Akito Hirose, who’s incredible point streak was snapped in Thursday’s loss. Hirose had gone 14 straight games with at least a point, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished by a defenceman in the BCHL since the 2015-16 season (Penticton’s Dante Fabbro). Still, Hirose leads all defenceman in the BCHL in points with 31 (4G, 27A). That is still good enough to be ranked top-10 for all skaters in the league.
Noah Wakeford ranks second on the Backs in scoring with 29 points in 27 games (10G, 19A), followed by William Poirier’s 25 points (10G, 15A) and then Daniel Rybarik’s 24 points (16G, 8A).
With an assist yesterday, forward Nick Unruh increased his point streak to three games and now has eight points (3G, 5A) in his last six games.
Four of the Silverbacks seven regulation losses this season have come in the month of November, a month where the Backs hold a 4-4 record. On the road this season, Salmon Arm is 6-4-1.
The Opposition
The Vipers are also .500 in the month of November, going 3-3-2 in their last eight games. In their last six games, they have only managed 10 goals (not including shootout goals).
Vernon is coming off 11 straight road games — yes, 11! — and will be playing on home ice for the first time since Oct. 19.
With just 60 goals scored as a team this season, the Vipers’ leading scorer —Matt Kowalski — has just 21 points. He and captain Connor Marritt are the only Vipers that have crossed the 20-point threshold so far this season (the Backs have five).
With goaltender Max Palaga hurt, the Vipers have leaned heavily on Riley Herbst, who has started 13 of the team’s last 16 games. Herbst carries a 9-2-1 record this season, to go along with a .919 SV% and 2.22 G.A.A.
Vernon is 4-3 on home ice this season.
Notable Versus Vernon
The Backs and Vipers have not played one another yet this season, but there is obviously some serious history with the teams going head-to-head in two straight playoff series.
Last year in the regular season, the Silverbacks went 5-1 head-to-head against Vernon, with three of those games needing extra time. In the three games at Kal Tire Place, the Backs went 2-1, winning 4-3 in a shootout (Oct. 31) and 2-0 (Nov. 23), and then losing 4-1 on Jan. 11.
Players to Watch
SILVERBACKS: DEVAN NEWHOOK
Newhook made his season debut on Thursday after missing a big chunk of the season with a lower-body injury.
He provides a steady presence on the blue line, especially on the PK, and plays with some sandpaper.
VIPERS: DAWSON HOLT
Vernon got an offensive boost about a month ago when former Vancouver Giant and Regina Pat Dawson Holt joined the team. The 20-year-old has recorded 13 points in 14 games with the Vipers this season, including 10 points in his last eight games.
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.
