Wenatchee, WA — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks defeated the Wenatchee Wild 4-2 on Saturday night to improve to 15-3-1 this season and remain in first place in the BCHL.
The Backs are now 7-1 in their last eight games.
GAME SUMMARY
The first period was once again filled with special teams play, with a total of nine penalties called in the opening 20 minutes.
The Wild struck first, scoring 6:06 into the period on their second power play of the game. Luke Ormsby notched his seventh goal of the season after knocking home a loose puck in front. It was his third goal against the Backs this season.
The Silverbacks would respond in a similar manner — on their second power play of the game — as Coalson Wolford scored his second goal in as many nights at the 13:46 mark of the first. He won a puck battle in the crease area and while down on one knee, whacked home a puck along the ice. Akito Hirose and William Poirier picked up the assists on the power play marker.
Just 2:38 into the second period, Holden Knights potted his first career BCHL goal, after Noah Lugli directed a puck towards the goal from the right point.
Five minutes later, Lugli was handed a five-minute major for charging, putting the Silverbacks down yet another defenceman. Due to injury, they were already without Tony Andreozzi, Devan Newhook and Kieran Ruscheinski. The Silverbacks penalty killers were up for the task, even drawing a penalty themselves during the kill to help them escape unscathed.
Less than 30 seconds after things went back to 5-on-5, Josh Zinger led a 2-on-1 rush and fed Daniel Rybarik a perfect pass that Rybarik made no mistake on for his team-leading 12th goal of the season.
Thanks to that goal, the Backs entered the second intermission with a 3-1 lead.
They would also begin the third on a power play after Knights drew a high-sticking call with 18 seconds to go in the middle frame. On the ensuing power play, Wolford scored yet another power play goal on yet another rebound, giving Salmon Arm a 4-1 lead just 50 seconds into the third period.
That was all the insurance they would need, with the Wild only managing to get one goal back, which came 2:07 to go in the game.
In the end, the Backs outshot the Wild 43-41, making it the 16th time in 19 games this season the Backs have out-shot their opponent.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
Coalson Wolford, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Wolford gets the nod here for the second straight night and it really comes as no surprise. He was johnny on the spot twice on the power play but also once again excelled on the penalty kill. After going pointless in eight straight games entering the weekend, Wolford recorded three goals and an assist in the two games against the Wild.
Akito Hirose, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Hirose recorded two power play assists to increase his point streak to an impressive seven games (11 assists in those games). With 23 points on the season, Hirose is now tied for fourth in overall league scoring.
Will Poirier, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Just like Hirose, Poirier tallied a pair of power play assists, giving the Valleyfield, QC native 21 points this season. He also now has six points in three head-to-head games against the Wild.
For the full boxscore, click here.
STAT OF THE GAME
Wolford — 2 PPGs: Just like Friday, special teams played a big factor in Saturday’s result and it was Wolford who made the difference.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Silverbacks have a huge double-header at the Shaw Centre against the Trail Smoke Eaters (11-6-2) next weekend, on Friday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 2.
Both games can be heard on 91.5 EZ Rock with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m., while fans can also stream the game on HockeyTV.
