Owen Say spoke loud Wednesday night.
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks goalie from London, Ont. made 35 saves helping lead the Gorillas to a 3-1 B.C. Hockey League pod play win over the Vernon Vipers at Kal Tire Place.
The loss snapped Vernon’s (9-4-1-1) four-game winning streak, while the two points pushed Salmon Arm (7-5-2-1) to within three points of the pod-leading Snakes.
“Pretty much in every aspect of our game we were disciplined,” said Salmon Arm assistant coach Carter Cochrane. “I think the guys knew the importance of the game and we challenged them to bring a playoff-type of intensity. We have some guys out of the lineup right now that are impactful for us and it was a good opportunity for guys to be able to step up and step up into roles they want to be in and roles they might be in in the future.”
The Backs had a solid opening 20 minutes, out-shooting Vernon 11-7 and getting a late first-period goal from Cameron Recchi, who deflected Hunter Sansbury’s point shot past goaltender James Porter Jr. on the team’s first power play of the game at 18:37.
The goal snapped Porter Jr.’s shutout streak at 123 minutes and 40 seconds. He finished the game with 24 saves.
In the second the Backs extended their lead off the stick of Simon Tassy, who buried a William Lavigne point shot rebound through the legs of Porter Jr. It was Lavigne’s first BCHL point.
The Vipers had an extended 5-on-3 powerplay but couldn’t solve Say who stopped a number of good Viper looks. Griffen Barr struck late in the period for Vernon with a great individual effort to rifle home his sixth of the pod season.
The Vipers really pushed hard for the equalizer, but the closest they would come was Nick Kent hammering a puck off the crossbar. Say would continue to stymy the Vipers offensive threats. Drew Bennett scored into an empty net at 19:33 of the third to make the final 3-1.
The Vipers are back in action Friday night when they take on the West Kelowna Warriors at 7 p.m. Salmon Arm will play Vernon Saturday at 6 p.m.
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Forwards Zack Tonelli of the Vernon Vipers (left) and Noah Serdachny of the Salmon Arm Silverbacks battle for a loose puck during the Gorillas’ 3-1 B.C. Hockey League pod play win Wednesday, April 28, at Kal Tire Place. (Lisa Mazurek - Vernon Vipers Photography)
