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Silverbacks Drop Heartbreaker 5-4 to Smoke Eaters

Salmon Arm B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks lost 5-4 to the Trail Smoke Eaters on home ice on Friday night, snapping their four-game winning streak.

The Backs are now 15-4-1 this season, while the Smoke Eaters improve to 13-6-2. The two clubs go head-to-head again tomorrow night, this time at 6 p.m. at the Shaw Centre.

GAME SUMMARY

The Backs came storming out of the gate, taking control of the game with their physicality and relentless forechecking pressure. They got rewarded 5:10 into the frame, as Dom Garozzo buried the biscuit blocker side past Logan Terness after Holden Knights drove the puck to the net from the right side.

Just 43 seconds later, however, Trail captain Philippe Lapointe evened the score on a backdoor play.

Salmon Arm once again took control of the game, jumping out to 10-4 lead in shots on goal, but at the 16:29 mark of the first, Tyler Ghirardosi was the beneficiary of a defensive zone turnover and beat Ethan Langenegger to the glove side to put the Smoke Eaters up 2-1. Near the end of the period, Trail was handed their first power play of the contest and only needed 12 seconds to convert, after Kent Johnson’s shot changed direction and went in short side to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes.

The Silverbacks came out flying once again to start the second period, piling on the chances, and finally got rewarded 9:02 in. Thanks to a bounce off the linesmen, Daniel Rybarik was able to walk into the high slot and rip one top corner to make it just a one-goal deficit at 3-2. It was his 13th goal of the season, the second-most in the entire BCHL.

Just over four minutes after Rybarik’s even-strength goal, the Smokies converted on another power play on Ghirardosi’s second of the contest, this time on a deflection in front. The Backs wouldn’t go down without a fight, getting back to within one goal just 26 seconds later thanks to Drew Bennett’s effort on a rebound.

Trail would once again get a two-goal lead, this time just eight seconds after a Silverbacks power play expired, after Walker Erickson got a breakaway and went bar down to make the score 5-3.

Bennett was at it again just 1:13 later, scoring his second of the game after Wakeford fed him a pass down low. The Newfoundland native walked out from behind the net and beat Terness to the glove side to make it 5-4.

The Backs fired 13 shots on Terness in the third and came oh so close on many opportunities. Terness made a desperation save on Nick Unruh with one minute to go and also had to stop Unruh on a penalty shot with 2.3 seconds to go in regulation. Despite the onslaught, the Smoke Eaters held on for a 5-4 win.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES

Drew Bennett, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Bennett had the first multi-goal game of his BCHL career and each came on the backhand at a crucial point in the game. His first marker was scored just 26 seconds after the Smoke Eaters made it 4-2 and his second goal made it a one-goal game again, this time with just 2:08 to go in the second period.

Logan Terness, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Terness made 40 saves on the evening but saved the best for last, robbing Unruh twice in the final minute, once when he dove back across the crease and once on a penalty shot with the glove. The rookie is now 10-2 this season.

Daniel Rybarik, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Another game and another even-strength goal for Rybarik, who now has 11 5-on-5 goals this season, which leads the league. The Bennett-Wakeford-Rybarik line was dynamite on Friday yet again.

For the full boxscore, click here.

STAT OF THE GAME

Trail PP 2-for-2s: Special teams played on a role on Friday, despite the limited opportunities for both sides. Both Smoke Eaters goals on the man advantage came off deflections. While the Backs definitely had chances on their two power plays, they couldn’t quite capitalize.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Silverbacks take on the Smoke Eaters again tomorrow night — Saturday, Nov. 2 — with puck drop this time set for 6 p.m.

The contest can be heard on 91.5 EZ Rock with the pre-game show starting at 5:30 p.m., while fans can also stream the game on HockeyTV.