Salmon Arm, B.C. – The Salmon Arm Silverbacks welcomed the Trail Smoke Eaters to the Shaw Centre for the first time this season.
The Smokies jumped out of the gate early and never looked back. In the first 16 seconds, off the opening draw, Jason Stefanek buried a rebound for the early 1-0 lead. Both teams had a powerplay opportunity in the first with no other scoring.
In the second period, Trail piled onto their lead. Halfway through the period, Tristan Allen gets sent to the box for slashing, giving the Smoke Eaters there second man advantage of the game. With 13 seconds left of powerplay time, Ridge Dawson storms back door to pot home the rebound that was sitting in the crease to extend the lead, 2-0. Two minutes later, coming out of the BCHL media timeout, a mad scramble in the crease leads to Max Potvin sliding the puck into the back of the net for the 3-0 lead.
The Silverbacks are able to strike back but not soon enough. With eight minutes left in the game, the Silverbacks break the goose egg when Cole Cooksey fires one top corner for his 16th of the season. Trying for a 6-0n-5 empty net in the final three minutes, Lucas Lemieux launches the puck the full length of the ice, dead centre of the empty net to put the game away, 4-1.
Despite the loss, Eli Pulver made 26/29 saves.
