Photo courtesy: Chris Fowler
Salmon Arm, BC – The Silverbacks opened up their three game home stand on Friday night with a 4-2 victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs in their first meeting since February of 2020.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks (7-5-0-1) welcomed the Chilliwack Chiefs (4-7-0-1) into town for their lone meeting of the season on Friday night. The Chiefs were the first team from the Coastal Conference to make a stop at the Shaw Centre. The Silverbacks had their five game point streak end last Saturday when they fell 7-1 to the West Kelowna Warriors. While the Chiefs are coming off a 4-3 loss to the hands of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Between the pipes it was Carter Richardson (1-1-0-0, 2.88 GAA, .896 S%) getting his third start of the season for the Silverbacks. While on the other end it was Lucas Szyszka (2-2-0-0, 3.14 GAA, .907 S%) getting his sixth start of the season for the Chiefs.
It was a high paced start at the Shaw Centre as both teams came out of the gate flying. The scoring got started midway through the first period when Brady Millburn (4) got on the board for the Chiefs following a nice cross ice pass from Sasha Telguine which left Richardson with no chance to make the save. Just a few moments later Will Lavigne took a tripping call and the Silverbacks went to the penalty kill. The Silverbacks were able to kill the penalty and gain some momentum. A tenacious shift from the Silverbacks ended with Jayden Grier (1) deflecting one home on the shot from Lian Gayfer. Shots ended up 13-8 in favor of the Chiefs, and the score deadlocked at one a piece.
The Chiefs started the second period off with a minute of powerplay time as Aidan Lindblad sat the remainder of his late cross-checking call from the first. The first 13 minutes of the second period was a goalie battle as both goalies turned down multiple high danger scoring opportunities. With just under five minutes to go in the period, Jayden Grier (2) was able to bury his second of the night as he followed a rebound following a Nathan Morin breakaway. Just a few moments later, Duncan Ramsay went to the box for cross checking. The Silverbacks were able to capitalize on their first man advantage of the night when Nathan Mackie (9) found a way to beat Szyska just under two minutes later. The Chiefs responded on quick order when Mason Kessselring (3) screamed one by Richardson just 20 seconds after the Silverbacks extended their lead to two goals. The Silverbacks outshot the Chiefs 13-12 in the middle frame.
The Silverbacks continued to apply the pressure to start off the third period, as they directed multiple shots towards the Chiefs net. The lone goal in the third period came midway through as Brandon Santa Juana (4) batted home his own rebound following his wrap around attempt. The rest of the period was the Carter Richardson show as he stopped all eight shots that he faced in the final frame. In the end, it was the Silverbacks taking down the Chiefs by a 4-2 final.
Next up for the Silverbacks will be hockey night at the Shaw Centre as the Silverbacks welcome the Prince George Spruce Kings into town for a 6:00PM puck drop tomorrow night.
