The Silverbacks hosted the Victoria Grizzlies at the Shaw Centre Feb. 16, falling 3-0 to the visiting Grizzlies over the course of a hard-fought game.
The matchup was undeniably close during the scoreless first period, with both teams holding a tight defence and skating hard to get the puck across the blue line. Shots on goal were low for both teams in the first and neither side managed to get the puck between the posts after twenty minutes of play.
The second period saw Marty Westhaver of the Grizzlies score off a tricky wrist shot at 3:57 in front of a crowded net. The remainder of the second was an intense back-and-forth across the ice as Victoria tried to press the advantage and the Silverbacks looked to even up the scoreboard. Scoring opportunities were 17-14 in favour of Salmon Arm by the end of the period, though unfortunately the home team were unable to get past Victoria’s goalie Kurtis Chapman.
Silverbacks forward Rhett Kingston wowed the crowd about halfway through the second period with a display of finesse that sent the stands into a frenzy as he expertly maneuvered past a pair of the Grizzlies’ defencemen and slipped the puck between their legs. Unfortunately the resulting breakaway didn’t result in a goal, but it was an excellent display of skating and stick-handling on the part of Kingston.
The third period saw the Grizzlies playing a hard defensive game to hold their 1-0 lead as Salmon Arm pressed their offensive capabilities to the limit in an attempt to match the Grizzlies’ on the scoreboard. The ‘Backs weren’t about to go down without a fight, at one point controlling the puck in the opposing zone for well over a minute as Victoria scrambled to clear their zone.
Scoring opportunities were stacked in the favour of the Silverbacks during the third but they didn’t manage to land a point. The Grizzlies’ Marty Westhaver put two more into the net in the last ten minutes of play; one assisted by Ryan Nolan at 11:17 and a second scored on an empty net just 50 seconds before the final buzzer, effectively rounding out a hat trick for Westhaver.
It was an exciting game to watch as both teams put in a lot of effort and created some intense offensive situations in the opposing zone. 14 penalties were called throughout the game with eight going to Victoria and six to Salmon Arm.
The Silverbacks travel to Merritt tonight to face off with the Centennials at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena at 7 p.m.. These two teams have met five times throughout this season, resulting in a three wins for the Centennials and two for the Silverbacks.
