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Salmon Arm Silverbacks return to top spot in Interior Division

Wednesday night’s game ends in 4-3 loss for Penticton Vees
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On Wednesday, Nov. 13, the Salmon Arm Silverbacks took back the top spot in the Interior Division with a 4-3 win over the Penticton Vees. (File photo)

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks have returned to the top position in the Interior League following a hard-fought game against the Penticton Vees.

On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Silverbacks goalie Ethan Langenegger stopped 32 shots on net while the rest of the team took 20 shots on the Vees. As the final buzzer rang, the score read 4-3 for the Silverbacks. Although both teams have identical 18-5-1 records, the Silverbacks hold the tie-breaker because of their head-to-head record.

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The game started slow for the Silverbacks, who failed to make a shot on goal until past the halfway mark of the period. The Vees opened scoring on a power play in the opening frame and just over four minutes later, Penticton struck again on another power play.

The offensive line of Sam Schofield, Logan Shaw and Holden Knights stole the momentum back for Salmon Arm late in the period. A play close to the Vees’ net led to Knights making a pass to Schofield who scored the Silverback’ first goal of the game with three minutes and 13 seconds left in the period. The next goal for the ‘Backs came with 47 seconds left in the period. Silverbacks’ Drew Bennett sent the puck over the glove of Carl Stankowski to tie the game 2-2.

Salmon Arm would get their first lead just over six minutes into the second period. Passes between Dom Garozzo and Nick Martino ultimately sent the puck between the legs of Vees goalie Carl Stankowski. With nearly five minutes to go in the period, the Vees struck again during their third power play of the game when Lukas Sillinger netted his 10th goal of the season.

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Just over one minute into the third period, the Silverbacks made use of a power play when Akito Hirose scored a goal to give Salmon Arm a 4-3 lead. Although the Vees continued to apply pressure at times in the third period, especially on their eight power plays, Silverbacks goalie Langenegger made 11 saves in the final period.

One of the reasons the Silverbacks were outshot 35-20 in the game was due to the amount of shorthanded time they had to endure.

The Silverbacks head to Penticton on Friday, Nov. 15, for a rematch with the Vees, and on Sunday, Nov. 17, the Wenatchee Wild visit the Shaw Centre.


@CameronJHT
Cameron.thomson@saobserver.net

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