Salmon Arm, B.C. – The Salmon Arm Silverbacks traveled to Merritt to take on the Centennials in game three with the series tied up 1-1.
The Centennials jumped out to another hot start but the Silverbacks weathered the storm. Three minutes in, Michael Stenberg finished off a two-on-one when the puck rolled up the pad of Eli Pulver, giving the Centennials the first goal for the third straight games in this series. At the 15 minute mark, Tanner Walos gets hauled to the box for roughing, which the Silverbacks were able to kill off. With two minutes left in the opening frame, Cole Longacre gets the drop pass in the offensive zone and rips one home, tying up the game 1-1.
The offence explodes in the second period for the Silverbacks. Each team had a chance on the powerplay in the first ten minutes but neither were able to connect until the flood gates opened for Salmon Arm. Ty Paisley jumped on a loose puck in the neutral zone and went on a breakaway, sliding it five-hole to give the Silverbacks the 2-1 lead. 30 seconds later, Luke Pfoh takes an interference penalty, giving the Silverbacks another powerplay. With the man advantage, Isaac Lambert grabs the puck in the slot and sneaks the puck around the pad to extend the lead to two. With one minute left, Cole Cooksey gets the puck in front of the net with time to snipe it past for the 4-1 lead, to cap off a three-goal third period.
The period period saw the physicality ramp up. Six minutes in, Aidan Lindblad and Nathaniel Davis get into a wrestling match which sees Lindblad rip him down and get a five-minute major for roughing and a game misconduct. In the final 20 seconds, with the game all but over, Tristan Allen, Tanner Walos, Zach Losier, and Jack Zilliotto all get misconducts for rough stuff after the whistle.
Eli Pulver made 24/25 saves to give the Silverbacks the 2-1 series lead.
