Heading state side, Salmon Arm looks to take down the hottest team in the BCHL. The Wenatchee Wild have won eight games in a row and 12 of their last 13. Two of those wins came against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks in the Shaw Centre during November.
After losing six of seven games, the Silverbacks came up clutch this past weekend. The roughest travel schedule of the season started Friday with a match against the Powell River Kings where Salmon Arm built up a 3-0 lead and eventually won 3-2. In Victoria the next night the Grizzlies rode a hot hand in Kyle Dumba who backstopped his current team against his former in a 2-0 shutout for his first Junior shutout in a four year career that has seen him with eight teams. Sunday afternoon Salmon Arm would go behind 2-0, but the Aiden Jenner, Tyson Gayfer, and Jarrod Semchuk scored twice to even the game in the second period. Noah Wakeford scored the go ahead goal in the third, and after Surrey tied the game Cole Nisse scored the game winner in OT for the Backs.
Adding to the challenge for Salmon Arm is the amount of bodies they are missing. Matthew Armitage has been called up for the weekend by the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL meaning the team has called up Kobe Grant from the Thompson Blazers. Grant played the final minutes of the last meeting with the Wild stopping two of three shots. On the backend, Akito Hirose serves his fourth game of a six game suspension, and Olson Werenka sits out his first of four. Up front Matthew Verboon is out of the lineup along with Aiden Jenner. Returning to the lineup for Salmon Arm is Wyatt Marlow who last played November 10th.
This is the first game in the Town Toyota Center for the Silverbacks. Wenatchee is 10-3-2 at home outscoring teams 66-40. After starting the season 0-6 on the road, Salmon Arm is 5-3-1 in their last nine.
To Watch:
Silverbacks: The lone American on the Silverbacks roster, Trevor Adams will be heading back to American soil in Wenatchee. Second in team scoring, Adams is on a three game point drought which matches a season high. Last season Adams had two goals and one assist against the American side, but is still looking for his first point against them this year. Two goals on Sunday snapped a season long seven game goal drought for Tyson Gayfer, and he’s a key player for the Backs scoring committee.
Wild: Amongst the league leaders in goal scoring this season, former Penticton Vee Matt Gosiewski has five points (three goals) in his last two games. He leads the Wild in points this season with 34 points in 31 games. Held to one assist in the first meeting, Cristophe Fillion burst out for a goal and two helpers in the second go around with the Silverbacks. The Quinnipiac commit has been held off the scoresheet in the last three games matching a season high.
TUNE IN
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