Salmon Arm, B.C. – The Salmon Arm Silverbacks welcomed in the Vernon Vipers to continue the 2024/2025 exhibition.
The first period saw no goals but the Silverbacks continued their exhibition trend of getting in penalty trouble. Each team had three powerplays in the opening frame. The Silverbacks snuck out a slim shot lead after one, 9-7.
The Vipers were able to strike in the second period to take a lead. Just over three minutes in, Carson McGinley found the back of the net to make it a 1-0 game. The rest of the middle frame was occupied by both teams making trips to the box.
The Vipers busted things open in the third period. At the six minute mark, Liam Beamish got his stick caught in a skate and was hauled to the penalty box for a trip. It only took the Vipers 20 seconds of powerplay time for Lukas McCloskey to snipe one home top corner from the point to extend the lead to 2-0. With five minutes left, Vernon put the nail in the coffin when Georgios Stavrianeas was in the right place at the right time and tucked home a rebound to make it 3-0. The Silverbacks couldn’t find twine at all in the game despite out shooting the Vipers 32-23.
Ryan Grout made 20/23 saves in the losing effort.
(Photo credit: Kristal Burgess)
