Victoria, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks were defeated 6-2 by the Victoria Grizzlies on Saturday night at the Q Centre.
Salmon Arm’s record now stands at 23-20-4, still just one point back of the Vernon Vipers for third place in the Interior Division. The Backs and Wild are now tied for fourth with 50 points each.
GAME SUMMARY
The Silverbacks weren’t exactly themselves on Saturday night, as they fell behind 2-0 just like Friday, but this time weren’t able to fight back in the second or third period.
Vincent Nardone and Henri Schreifels scored just under three minutes apart in the first half of the opening frame to give the home side a 2-0 lead. Although the Silverbacks drew two penalties in the first period, they were unable to convert and entered the first intermission down 2-0.
The Grizzlies took a commanding lead with their third straight even-strength goal at the 8:27 mark of the second, courtesy of Alex DiPaulo, followed by a power play marker four minutes later from Schreifels during a 5-on-3 power play. Schreifels completed the hat-trick with yet another power play goal at the 16:05 mark of the middle frame to make the score 5-0.
The two teams combined for 11 minor penalties in the second period alone — seven for the Backs and four for the Grizzlies.
Lucas Breault did get the Backs on the board 14 seconds after Schreifels made the game 5-0, after he potted home the loose change in front following a strong net drive from Daniel Rybarik. After 40 minutes, the Silverbacks were trailing 5-1, but had a 22-20 edge in shots on goal.
The third period was fairly uneventful, as was expected, but each team did score once — DiPaulo got his second of the game to make it 6-1 near the halfway mark of the period, while Drew Bennett made the game 6-2 with 6:13 to go.
In the end, the Backs out-shot the Grizzlies 35-25 but fell 6-2, as Victoria’s power play finished the night 3-for-7.
For the full boxscore, click here.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Silverbacks wrap up their road trip on Sunday afternoon in Surrey against the Eagles.
The game can be heard on 91.5 EZ Rock with the pre-game show starting at 3:30 p.m. and puck drop set for 4 p.m. Fans can also stream the game on HockeyTV.
