Salmon Arm, B.C. – The Salmon Arm Silverbacks finished off 2023 at home against the Penticton Vees.
The Silverbacks came flying out to a hot start against the BCHL’s top team. Three minutes in, Adam Boatter kept the puck in at the point and dropped it off to Maddux Martin in the slot, who ripped it into the top corner for the early lead. With five minutes left in the opening frame, the Silverbacks widen the lead. Martin connects with Cole Cooksey backdoor for the easy tap in goal.
You can’t keep the one of the top scoring teams down for long. Two minutes into the second period, Anselmo Rego drives the net and pots one to get the Vees on the board. Two minutes later, back-to-back goals for the Vees to tie it up sees Thomas Pichette wire one home from the high slot. Just before the BCHL media timeout, Cole Longacre gets sent to the box for interference. With only five seconds left in powerplay time, Billy Renfrew finds the rebound in the crease and flips it over the pad to give the Vees the lead. 30 seconds later the Silverbacks have a huge answer. Nick Wellenreiter forces a turnover and springs Isaac Lambert on a breakaway. Lambert scores his team leading 12th goal of the season to tie up the game. With under a minute and a half to go, the Silverbacks retake the lead with Cole Cooksey finishing off a three-on-one rush for his second of the game.
The third was a quiet period with both teams trading a penalty but no one was able to find the back of the net again.
Eli Pulver moves to a perfect 3-0 record against the Vees this season while making 32/35 saves in the game. With the win, Head Coach Tyler Shattock recorded his 100th career regular season BCHL win as well.
