Salmon Arm, BC – For the fourth time this season, and the second time in as many weeks, the Silverbacks and Warriors went to battle in an Interior Conference Showdown. West Kelowna had taken the first two meetings on the season by a combine scored of 12-4, but Salmon Arm took meeting number three back on January 28th by a 4-1 score line. The Warriors are in the midst of a season long seven game road-swing in which they had lost three of the first four games, and were looking to turn the tides to extend their lead on the ‘Backs to seven points in the standings. The Silverbacks were coming off a pair of tough losses the weekend prior as they most recently fell 3-1 to the Prince George Spruce Kings.
Matthew Tovell (15-13-3-0, 2.71 GAA, .921 S%, 4 SO) got the nod for the ‘Backs, while Cayden Hamming (4-1-1-0, 2.67 GAA, .909 S %, 0 SO) got the start for the Warriors.
The Silverbacks were able to take advantage of the energetic home crowd as they were able to strike early off of the stick of Nathan Mackie (21). The captain followed up on a Ryan Gillespie rebound to bury one by Hamming to open the scoring and get his third goal in as many games. Shortly after that goal saw the Warriors go to the man advantage with the leagues second best powerplay, but it was a great sequence from Matthew Tovell as he turned aside 7 shots on the penalty kill. Midway through the period it was a burst of speed from Jake Bernadet (8) which boosted him into the Silverbacks zone and helped him bury one past Tovell to even up the score at one a piece. The Silverbacks stayed resilient in the period as Owen Beckner (13) was able to deflect one in following a shot from Ethan Ullrick to restore the ‘Backs one goal cushion. Shots in the opening frame were 14-10 in favor of Salmon Arm.
Salmon Arm came out in the second period with plenty of movement as they looked to extend their one goal lead. It was a determined effort from Brandon Santa Juana (12) on the man advantage which helped double the Silverbacks lead. Just 30 seconds later it was Isaac Lambert (12) finding a way to beat Hamming as he was left alone in front of the Warriors net. That ended the night for Cayden Hamming, as Angelo Zol came in for relief for the Warriors. The second half of the period turned in favor of the Warriors as they looked to get back into the game. Matthew Tovell was able to steer aside the pressure from the Warriors which kept the ‘Backs lead at three goals. Shots in the period were 11-5 in favor of the Silverbacks.
The Silverbacks were not done on the goal front as they opened up the final frame with a man advantage as Brennan Nelson sat for a two minute slashing call. On the powerplay, it was Tristan Allen (5) getting his first as a Silverback with a seeing-eye shot from the blueline which was able to get by Zol to extend the ‘Backs lead to four goals. Salmon Arm wasn’t done there as Hayden Stavroff (8), and Maddux Martin (5) both added singles to help catapult the ‘Backs to a 7-1 win over the Warriors. The ‘Backs ended up out-shooting the Warriors 40-25.
Next up for the ‘Backs will be the final game of the five game home stand as the Coastal Conference leading Nanaimo Clippers pay a visit to the Shaw Centre tomorrow night. All kids 15 and under will get in free thanks to Proair Heating & Cooling. Puck drop will be at 6:00PM.
Photo by CHRIS FOWLER – Recap by Courtesy of TONY TROZZO
