The Salmon Arm Silverbacks made a big win in front of a crowd packed with BCHL scouts Friday night, and three players put it into high gear to lock down the 6-3 victory over the Victoria Grizzlies.
Salmon Arm opened the scoring less than a minute into the first period as Justin Wilson put in a goal off an assist from Olson Werenka.
It was a short-lived lead however as Victoria made a play just three minutes later to tie the game up at 1-1 and make it neutral again early in the first.
The Silverbacks were back in the lead late in the first as Olson Werenka looked to improve on his assist and scored his first-ever BCHL goal with the Silverbacks off an assist from Noah Wakeford and Matthew Verboon.
Related: Silverbacks defenceman Akito Hirose signs to Minnesota State NCAA team
The Grizzlies once again tied the scoring at 2-2 14 minutes into the first period, with Silverbacks’ forward Matthew Verboon granting his team the lead once again during some furious four-on-four action.
After a back-and-forth first period the Silverbacks started the second on the power-play, bringing their lead up to two points as Matthew Verboon put in another goal off an assist from Wilson and Werenka.
The Grizzlies would score their final goal of the game just over three minutes into the second, and Justin Wilson would put another goal in off an assist from Werenka to make it 5-3 going into the third.
In the final period the Grizzlies made several big offensive efforts but couldn’t get anything into the net. Victoria pulled their goaltender to get the extra player on the ice but Silverbacks’ forward Trevor Adams would put the final goal into the empty net to make it 6-3 for Salmon Arm as the final score.
Related: Silverbacks drop Merritt in 4-2 home opener game
Backs win again! Showcase win streak extended to seven games! Congratulations to Krahn and Shaw on scoring their first BCHL goals! pic.twitter.com/MDWpYIGtpC
— Salmon Arm Silverbacks (@SASilverbacks) September 22, 2018
Twitter/Salmon Arm Silverbacks
The following day, Saturday, Sept. 22, the Silverbacks were back on the ice against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs for their next BCHL Bauer Showcase game, knocking out a 4-1 victory to keep the momentum going.
Silverbacks’ defenceman Akito Hirose continued his hot streak by opening the scoring against the Bulldogs just over halfway through the first. Hudson Schandor and Andy Stevens assisted on this lone goal in the first period.
Just after five minutes into the second period Andy Stevens would score a goal of his own off the assist from Tyson Gayfer. The Bulldogs would put their solitary point of the game into the net late in the second as Austin Spiridakis put in an unassisted short-handed goal.
Salmon Arm extended their lead by two with a pair of near back-to-back goals close to halfway through the third. Johnathan Krahn scored off an assist from Noah Wakeford and Andy Stevens; just 22 seconds later Logan Shaw scored the final goal of the game off an assist from Yewta Plamondon and Johnathan Krahn.
The Silverbacks are back on the ice Sept. 23 for another game against the Coquitlam Express, followed by a road game Sept. 28 against the West Kelowna Warriors and a home game Sept. 29 also against the Warriors.
Related: Silverbacks fall to Trail, Merritt in back-to-back games
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