Salmon Arm, B.C. – The Salmon Arm Silverbacks played their first game of 2026 against the Vernon Vipers.
The Silverbacks get out to a lead in the first period. At the 6:20 mark, Koen Senft sneaks by the defenceman, gets a feed, and snipes one glove side for his 5th of the season, 1-0 Silverbacks. Each team had a powerplay chance in the opening frame but neither could convert. It was a high shots on goal period, 16-11 in favour of Salmon Arm.
Both offenses wake up in the second period with the Silverbacks still holding the lead. A couple of minutes in, Christian Maro ties it up, 1-1. Answering back quickly was Brady Logue hammering a rebound in front for his 6th of the year, 2-1. The game is moving fast and furious as a minute later, Toms Trockis retaliates and once again forces this game tied, 2-2. Not going down without a fight, a minute later again, Luke Sinclair finds himself in front of the net to push home a rebound, his 7th of the season, 3-2. Not satisfied with a one-goal lead, Luke Sinclair gets his second of the game when the Silverbacks force a turnover behind the net and score the wide open goal, 4-2. Two minutes later, Salmon Arm forces another offensive zone turnover and Luke Sinclair receives a seem pass one-timer snipe to the top corner, completing his first career BCHL hat-trick. It was the Silverbacks first hat-trick since the 2023/24 season.
The Vipers fight back in the third but fall short of a comeback. In the first minute, Anthony Preskar finds the puck in the slot all alone and wires it five-hole for his first career BCHL goal, 6-2. The comeback attempt from Vernon gets started when Brayden Pankey snaps his first career BCHL goal, 6-3. Then on the powerplay, Davids Livsics gets a goal, bringing it closer, 6-4. Getting a huge insurance goal was Luke Sinclair again finding the twine for his 4th of the game, 10th of the season, 7-4. Another powerplay goal sees Dmitrii Kubantsev score and make it a 7-5 game but that’s where the comeback stops.
Luke Sinclair finishes with 4 goals and 1 assist, tying a franchise record for goals in a single game. Anthony Preskar, making his BCHL debut, also has a 5 point game, 1 goal and 4 assists.
Daniel Dirracolo gets the win, stopping 27/32 shots faced.
(Photo credit: Lisa Mazurek)
