West Kelowna, B.C. — The Salmon Arm Silverbacks lost 6-2 to the West Kelowna Warriors on Saturday night at Royal LePage Place.
Their record now stands at 19-8-2.
GAME SUMMARY
The Backs were up against the wall early in this one, as the Warriors came out flying and scored just 16 seconds in. After a board scramble, the puck came to John Evans in front, who netted his fourth of the year.
The home side kept their momentum going and continued to pepper Ethan Langenegger, who stood tall and kept Salmon Arm in the game. The shots on goal were 11-2 for the Warriors roughly halfway through the first period. With just under three minutes remaining, Evans would score his second of the period to extend his team’s lead to 2-0.
After one period, the Backs were down 2-0 and trailed 17-7 in shots on goal.
The second frame started in much the same way as the first, but once again Langenegger kept his team in the game. At the 4:09 mark of the period, Backs forward Holden Knights dropped the mitts with Spencer Hora to try to spark his club. Just over three minutes later, Silverback William Poirier would backhand in a loose puck to cut the Warriors lead in half. It was Poirier’s 11th goal of the season that made the score 2-1.
With just over five minutes to go in the period, Lucas Cullen led a 4-on-2 rush for West Kelowna and defenceman Nick Ardanaz buried the rebound to restore the two-goal lead at 3-1. Salmon Arm would get a 5-on-3 man advantage not long after but could not capitalize, meaning the 3-1 score remained through 40 minutes, with the shots favouring the Warriors 28-27.
Noah Wakeford kept the Backs close by wiring a wicked shot off the bar and in just three minutes into the third period.
Unfortunately, under four minutes later the Warriors would convert on a power play, after Brendan Pigeon knocked in a rebound right after a shot hit the post, making the score 4-2. The Warriors would add two other power play markers late in the game to seal the deal.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
Ethan Langenegger, Salmon Arm Silverbacks: Despite allowing six goals, Langenegger was once again very strong, keeping his team in the game until very late. Almost all the goals were due to lost coverage or odd-man rushes.
John Evans, West Kelowna Warriors: Evans had two first period goals and an assist, but also continued to cause problems for the Silverbacks with his relentless puck pursuit. It was the first three-point game of his young BCHL career.
Brendan Pigeon, West Kelowna Warriors: Pigeon was also motoring all night and finished with a goal and two assists. It was his third multi-assist game of the season.
For the full boxscore, click here.
STAT OF THE GAME
Warriors PP 3-for-6: As slow as the Backs were to start the game, things were within reach after Wakeford made it 3-2 early in the third. But then West Kelowna went 3-for-3 on the power play and put the game out of reach.
WHAT’S NEXT
The Silverbacks host the Langley Rivermen and Vernon Vipers next weekend at the Shaw Centre. Langley is in town on Friday for a 7 p.m. start and Vernon visits on Saturday for a 6 p.m. puck drop.
Both 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 game on HockeyTV.
