The Silverbacks hit the road to travel to West Kelowna last night to play against the Warriors for the fourth time this season, taking a 4-1 loss that sets the record at 2-2 between these teams.
Lucas Cullen of the Warriors opened up the scoring just over five minutes into the first. The Warriors’ had two more close scoring chances in the period, one that were stonewalled by Ethan Langenegger and another that was shot down on a call from the referee.
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Halfway through the first Salmon Arm would even up the score at 1-1 off a goal from Yewta Plamondon, who scored in his first game back on the ice in nearly three weeks after an injury. The puck was set up off a rebound from Trevor Adams, landing right in Plamondon’s reach for him to take a shot that would end up being the Silverbacks’ lone goal of the evening and Plamondon’s first goal in the BCHL.
West Kelowna would come back and make it 2-1 late in the first as Mike Hardman took a pass from Willie Reim and fired it past Langenegger with just over a minute remaining in the period.
The second period saw one goal early on from Calvin Tilsley of the Warriors, and the game would be locked at 3-1 going into the third.
The stalemate would continue throughout the third, seeing nearly 36 minutes of ice time go by without a point from either side. Salmon Arm looked to make something happen late in the game, pulling Langenegger from the goal to get an extra player, but that just served to make their net an easy target for Warriors’ Bennet Norlin who scored on an empty net with a minute remaining.
While the scoreboard shows a one-sided matchup, shots on goal were almost dead even at 36 for Salmon Arm to West Kelowna’s 35. The Warriors’ were able to convert more attempts into points throughout the game and have a victory to show for it.
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Interestingly, in the four times that Salmon Arm has faced West Kelowna this season, the home team has won every single time. Time will tell if this trend holds steady in future games, but the two teams will not meet again on the ice until Feb. 1, and Salmon Arm will have the home-ice advantage in that game.
Tonight the Silverbacks hit the ice at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm for a match at 7 p.m. against the Trail Smoke Eaters, with another early game on Sunday against the Prince George Spruce Kings at 3 p.m.
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