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Silverbacks Not Themselves in 4-2 Defeat to Cents

Merritt, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks fell 4-2 to the Merritt Centennials on Saturday night at Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.

Because of the defeat, the Silverbacks are now in fourth place in the Interior Division, one point back of the Wenatchee Wild, who come to town on Sunday evening for the final head-to-head of the season. The Backs and Vernon Vipers both have 61 points, but Salmon Arm is in fourth because they have a game in hand.

GAME SUMMARY

There were no goals scored in the opening period but it wasnt for a lack of chances, particularly for the home side. Grant Adam’s stopped all 14 shots he faced in the opening frame for the Backs, keeping things scoreless through 20 minutes.

Just over two minutes into the second period, Luke Mylymok stole the puck from a Merritt defender just inside the offensive blue line while killing a penalty and was able to get the puck to Will Poirier, who had a clear path to the net. The veteran made no mistake on the shorthanded breakaway, taking it to the backhand and roofing it for his 22nd of the season.

The teams exchanged chances for the remainder of the period, until Cents defenceman Talon Zakall tied the game on a seeing-eye wrist shot from the right point to even the score after 40 minutes.

On Merritt’s fourth power play of the game six minutes into the third, they took their first lead after some good puck movement led to an Evan Benwell tap in.

It didn’t take long for the Backs to respond, evening the score on a power play of their own under three minutes later, courtesy Noah Wakeford. The Okotoks, AB native shovelled home a loose puck on his backhand after Hunter Sansbury’s point shot missed the net but ricocheted and landed in the crease.

Unfortunately for the Silverbacks, they found themselves down a man not long after and Merritt was able to capitalize on the man advantage again. Thomas Manty ripped a one-timer past the blocker side of Grant Adams to give the Cents a 3-2 lead with 8:47 remaining in the third.

The Silverbacks pulled Adams for the extra attacker with about a minute and a half left, but Daniel Tkac found the empty net from his own zone to seal the deal at 4-2.

For the full boxscore, click here.

THEY SAID IT

“I felt like our feet weren’t moving as much as they needed to be and we weren’t making the plays that we’re capable of. There’s a level of maturity that’s required as a player when you’re in one of those games to just simplify and focus on working rather than just trying to be too cute or fancy and I think we just weren’t able to find that soon enough tonight. ” — Silverbacks assistant coach Carter Cochrane

TOP PERFORMERS

Grant Adams— Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Adams made some fabulous saves in this one, including a couple post-to-post dandy to rob captain Rylan Van Unen in the third.

Thomas Manty— Merritt Centennials: Manty had the game-winning-goal and added an assist to give him 28 points on the season.

Tanner Marshall— Merritt Centennials: Marshall was the star of the show, finishing with 35 saves on 37 shots. He is now 2-1 against the Silverbacks this season.

WHAT’S NEXT

The Silverbacks wrap up the weekend with a home game on Sunday night against the Wenatchee Wild, which is a huge opportunity for the Silverbacks to not only hop back into third but hand the team their chasing a direct loss. It’s a classic ‘four-point game’ set for the Shaw Centre at 7p.m.

All games this season can be heard on 91.5 EZ Rock with the pre-game shows starting half an hour before puck drop. Fans can also stream games on HockeyTV.