The Salmon Arm Silverbacks split their games in a weekend road trip to Alberta, putting them at 4-2-1-1 a month into the regular season.
On Friday, Sept. 27 the 'Backs were tamed by the Sherwood Park Crusaders with a 4-1 final, with Payton Nelson scoring the team's lone goal early in the second with his first of two for the weekend.
They rebounded the following day however, tarnishing the halos of the Spruce Grove Saints with a wicked 8-2 victory. The B.C. boys dominated the opening frames, with Riley Ashe lighting up the board midway through the first, assisted by Patrick Raftery and Scott Miner. Raftery added to his point count in the last two minutes of play, scoring off passes from Maddux Martin and Ben MacBeath.
The Silverbacks kept up their momentum in the second, with Roenick Jodoin striking just 15 seconds, followed by Nelson, unassisted, and Aidan Willis, with Ashe, Cole Cooksey, Tanner Walos and Nelson all passing the puck. Though the Saints found their wings in the third with an early goal, the 'Backs continued to hammer them, with goals from Ryan Philbrick, Jodoin with his second of the night and Caleb Maher widening the gap before the host team potted their ineffective final goal.
In reaction to the Salmon Arm's relentless play, the Saints found themselves in the sin bin for a total of 23 minutes, while their clean play earned the Silverbacks just eight minutes in the box.
The team brings the action home to the Rogers Rink this weekend, hosting the Vernon Vees at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4 and the Okotoks Oilers Saturday, Oct. 5 with the puck drop at 6 p.m.