Eli Pulver made 38 saves and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks knocked off the Penticton Vees 3-1 on Friday, May 10, in Game 5 of the Interior Conference Finals.
Salmon Arm leads the series 3-2 and could advance to the Fred Page Cup Finals with a victory on Saturday night in Game 6. Penticton hasn’t faced elimination in the playoffs since 2019.
Pulver made 18 of his 38 stops in the first period and recorded his league-leading 11th win of the playoffs.
Tanner Walos, Reid Varkonyi and Nathaniel Davis scored for Salmon Arm, which has won two games in a row after falling behind 2-1 in the series.
James Fisher found the back of the net for Penticton.
Vees goaltender Will Ingemann made 18 saves in the loss.
Walos opened the game’s scoring at 12:04 of the first period, before Fisher replied for Penticton just six seconds into the middle frame.
Varkonyi scored his first of the playoffs, the eventual game-winner, at 14:32 of the second period. JJ Monteiro threw a cross-ice pass that was tipped by Varkonyi and past Ingemann.
Davis also scored his first of the playoffs, an insurance marker late in the third period.
Penticton’s season is on the line Saturday night, May 11, as the teams meet for Game 6 at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm at 6 p.m.
Game 7, if necessary, would go Tuesday, May 14, at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
In the Coastal Conference Finals, the Surrey Eagles lead the Alberni Valley Bulldogs 3-1.
READ MORE: Here’s what’s happening this weekend in Penticton