The Salmon Arm Silverbacks have no shortage of momentum heading into the playoffs.
The ‘Backs are on a five-game winning streak following their win against the West Kelowna Warriors on February 25.
Elijiah Barriga kicked off the scoring with an unassisted goal two minutes after the opening whistle.
Twelve minutes into the second period, Connor Sundquist sent the puck skipping across the ice through Westbank goaltender Owen Patrick’s five-hole, extending Salmon Arm’s lead to two.
After Silverback Trevor Ayre went to the box for high-sticking, Michael Ryan capitalized with a power play goal, making the score 2-1.
Barriga struck again early in the third with a power play goal, assisted by Josh Latta and Carson Bolduc.
Quin Foreman scored again for West Kelowna before the two-minute mark of the third frame.
Bolduc scored again assisted by Ryley Booth.
Stephen Kleysen tried to lead a late comeback for the Warriors with an unassisted power play goal at 18:31.
In the final minute Barriga scored on the empty net wrapping up a hat-trick and a 5-3 victory for the Silverbacks.
Earlier in the week, before their win against West Kelowna, the ‘Backs beat the Cowichan Valley Capitals on the road.
Cowichan won the teams’ previous meeting on Nov. 19, 5-2.
The game, hosted at the Island Savings Centre in Duncan, was a late addition to the schedule after road conditions stopped Salmon Arm from making the trip earlier this month.
Silverbacks’ forward Nathan Iannone skated in unassisted to open the scoring near the end of the first period.
The Capitals retaliated early in the second period with a goal from Ayden MacDonald assisted by former Silverbacks captain Mitch Skapski.
The tie persisted through the rest of the second frame.
Four minutes into the third period, Ayre gave Salmon Arm the lead again with a goal assisted by Ryan Hogg.
After the Capitals pulled their goaltender with a little over a minute remaining, Barriga scored on the empty net in the final 40 seconds. Final score 3-1 ‘Backs.
“It was a long drive for two points. A long day, a 25 hour day, it ended up being extremely long, but you know trips like that bring the team closer together,” said Silverbacks Head Coach Misko Antisin.
Antisin said the Silverbacks are playing well, having fun and coming together as team.
“Without going too deep into it, we did have an aha moment after the game in Langley when we got blown out. It’s kind of more internal, but I will say we opened our eyes and our hearts and our minds. We had a great chat after the 11-2 loss and that’s the moment I can say we really bonded together.”
The past week’s games marked the end of the BCHL regular season, the ‘Backs face the Trail Smoke Eaters in the first round of the playoffs.
Trail won four of the teams’ seven regular season meetings, one ended in a tie.
The first playoff game is on March 3 in Trail.
Antisin said the Silverbacks recognize they are the underdogs in the opening playoff series but thinks they will be successful if they play their way.
