Nanaimo, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks lost 2-1 on Friday night at Frank Crane Arena to the Nanaimo Clippers. It was by far the best overall effort during their current six-game losing streak, as they out-shot the home side 38-29 and led for much of the game.
Their record now stands at 19-11-2 , good for third place in the Interior Division.
GAME SUMMARY
The Backs had a strong first period of play and got rewarded 9:18 into the period, after new addition Lucas Breault sniped a shot to the top corner over the glove of Jordan Naylor. Jayden Price led the 3-on-1 rush and fed a pass to Breault, who made no mistake in his first game as a Silverback.
The two teams exchanged chances in the middle portion of the period, but the Backs finished the frame with momentum after drawing a penalty. Still, it remained 1-0 after 20 minutes of play with the Silverbacks leading in shots on goal 14-5.
Salmon Arm had a great start to the middle period as well, generating offence early on, but they couldn’t extend their lead. Things got chippy as the period went on and with just 1:36 to go in the second, the Clippers drew even off the stick of new acquisition Josh Kagan. Ethan Langenegger stopped defenceman Trevor LeDonne on the first shot, but on the second try LeDonne passed it back door to Kagan who tied the game 1-1.
At the second period buzzer, tempers boiled over after Drew Bennett collided with Robbie Drazner, which led to a scrum. Backs defenceman Kieran Ruscheinski ended up dropping the mitts with Clippers 20-year-old forward Scott Mahovlich, while Jayden Price also got tangled up with Kagan. The penalties evened out, and so the third period began at 5-on-5.
The final period was even, but the only goal went to the home side with 4:02 to go in regulation. Brendan Dent intercepted a pass in the Silverbacks zone and made a pass into the high slot to Liam Ryan, who’s first shot was blocked but his second was tipped in by linemate MacKenzie Merriman.
Salmon Arm pulled goaltender Ethan Langenegger to try to get the equalizer, but couldn’t find an equalizer, resulting in the 2-1 loss.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
Lucas Breault, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Breault tallied his first BCHL goal less than 10 minutes into his first game. His puck skills and elusiveness were on display throughout the game.
Ethan Langenegger, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: As always, Langenegger made some big stops at key times in the game, particularly when the game was 1-1. He did all he could to keep his club in the game.
Jordan Naylor, Nanaimo Clippers: Naylor had the hot hand in this one without a doubt, even though the Silverbacks didn’t do quite enough on second-chance opportunities. He finished the night with 37 saves on 38 shots and picked up his 15th win.
For the full boxscore, click here.
STAT OF THE GAME
Naylor 37 saves: Naylor’s biggest saves came in the second period when the game was 1-0 for the Backs. Without those stops, the game doesn’t end the way it did.
POST-GAME QUOTE
“I think we ran into a bit of a hot goalie here. I think we did enough to win. I thought our cycle was a lot better. Activating our ‘D’ in the o-zone [was better]. The things that we preached in practice all week long, the guys showed. So if they keep doing that, we’ll get on the board here. We’ve just got to stay with it.” – Assistant coach Tyler Shattock
WHAT’S NEXT
The Silverbacks take on the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Saturday night and then face off against the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Sunday afternoon to close out their first Island road trip. Saturday’s game is set for 7 p.m. and Sunday’s game is scheduled for 2 p.m.
All games can be heard on 91.5 EZ Rock with the pre-game show starting 30 minutes before puck drop. Fans can also stream the games on HockeyTV.
