The Salmon Arm Silverbacks return to regular season play tonight after a few days showing off in Seattle.
At the BC Hockey League Showcase this week, the ‘Backs played the Langley Rivermen and the Surrey Eagles at the Kraken Community Iceplex, hitting the ice for fans and professional league scouts.
On Wednesday, Oct. 25, Salmon Arm racked up 46 shots on goal to Langley’s 24, for 12 total points compared to four.
The first period saw little action until nearly the halfway mark, when Tristan Allen opened the scoring unassisted, followed by a goal from Cole Cooksey at 12:21. Langley halved their deficit with a 19:25 shot from Vitaly Levvy.
The scoreboard evened out at 6:29 in the second, as Levvy got his second of the game. The Rivermen then gave up a power play chance to Salmon Arm, where Nathan Mackie scored the eventual game-winner with help from Reid Varkonyi and JJ Monteiro.
The third saw an insurance goal from Nick Wellenreiter after 16 minutes, at which point Langley also took their goalie out of the game. Salmon Arm capitalized on this and nabbed a last-minute empty netter that brought Liam Hallett back into the Rivermen’s net. The Silverbacks finished with a 5-2 win.
The next day in Seattle, Salmon Arm faced off against the Surrey Eagles, again out-shooting the opposing team 24-19.
There was no scoring on the ice during either the first or second period, as all the action culminated in the third.
Aaron Schwartz opened the scoring nearly six minutes in, followed quickly by Caden Cranston, giving Langley an early lead. Casy Laylin and Ryan Gillespie evened the score just minutes later, but then Ryan Schelling snuck in the game winner.
All three stars of the game went to Eagles players, as they skated away with a 3-2 win.
The Silverbacks play tonight (Oct. 28) against the Kings in Powell River at 7 p.m.
Read more: NHL draft scouting list includes 4 Salmon Arm Silverbacks
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