The Silverbacks (19-28-3-3) will host the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (16-28-2-7) tonight at 7pm at the Shaw Centre, the first of 3 games in as many days for the Silverbacks and the second of 4 games in 5 days. Salmon Arm fell 4-3 at home to the West Kelowna Warriors (26-25-0-2) two nights ago, on Wednesday at the Shaw Centre.
The visitors opened the scoring with back-to-back power-play goals in the opening period, with Trevor Ayre off for slashing and affiliate defenseman Ante Mustapic penalized for holding. Marcus Mitchell got the home team on the board with his 9th at 12:18 and Salmon Arm trailed 2-1 into the second period. The Warriors outshot the Silverbacks 12-9. Penalties and power-plays dominated the first half of the middle period, and Elijiah Barriga capitalized during a 5-on-3 man-advantage and tied the game 2-2 with his 25th at 14:07. West Kelowna took the lead back quickly, 3-2 with 4:02 remaining. Salmon Arm outshot the Warriors 18-16 in the second period.
Neither team found the back of the net in the first 18 minutes of the third, but Ryan Hogg dropped the gloves with Jonas Gordon at 6:37. West Kelowna went ahead 4-2 at 18:22 with Nic Tallarico on the bench for the extra attacker. Marcus Mitchell potted his second of the game and 10th with 20 seconds remaining, and 6-on-5 with Tallarico back on the bench. The Silverbacks outshot the Warriors handily in the third, 19-5 and 44-33 Silverbacks total. Salmon Arm finished 1-for-4 on the power-play, and 5-for-6 on the penalty-kill on Wednesday.
The Silverbacks still lead the season series 4 games to 2, and regular season series will finish on Saturday, February 25th at 7pm in Salmon Arm. Alberni Valley lost 5-1 at home to the Cowichan Valley Capitals (23-27-2-3) on Tuesday. Salmon Arm shutout the Bulldogs 3-0 last Saturday in Port Alberni. The Silverbacks have one last regular season trip to island remaining, last Friday’s game at the Cowichan Valley Capitals (23-26-2-3) was postponed due to closed highways around the province. Salmon Arm will visit Duncan this coming Wednesday, February 22nd with the face-off set for 6pm. Salmon Arm is 3-5-0-1 versus the Island division, Alberni Valley is 6-3-0-1 versus the Interior.
The Bulldogs have a road record of 8-15-1-2, while the Silverbacks are 7-14-2-2 in the Shuswap. The Silverbacks have been outscored 217-163 total, while the Bulldogs have been outscored 191-127. Salmon Arm will visit the Penticton Vees (37-12-1-2) tomorrow (Saturday) at 6pm, and the Silverbacks will host the Merritt Centennials (20-23-2-8) on Sunday afternoon at 3pm in Salmon Arm.
The Silverbacks need 1 point in their final 5 regular season games to clinch the final playoff spot in the Interior, Salmon Arm has 44 points in 53 games and is sixth in the division. The top two teams in the Interior will receive a first round bye, with third place meeting sixth and fourth versus fifth in Best-of-7 series to begin the post-season.
The fifth place team on the Mainland has an opportunity to crossover into the first round in the Interior. The Surrey Eagles (17-34-0-4) sit fifth and lost 4-3 at home to the Chilliwack Chiefs (35-10-0-5) last night (Thursday), another loss or 1 point earned by the Silverbacks will officially elongate the Eagles from the playoff contention. Alberni Valley is in a must situation this weekend, the Bulldogs are fifth on the Island and 9 points behind the Nanaimo Clippers (22-26-1-5). The Clippers will visit the Powell River Kings (35-18-0-1) tonight at 715pm.
