The Salmon Arm Silverbacks hit the road to take on the Coquitlam Express on Feb. 7 and dealt them a convincing 5-2 defeat in which they completely dominated the first two periods.
Early in the game Lucas Wong of the Express was ejected for a checking from behind major; the five minute penalty was served by a teammate.
The ‘Backs took advantage of the power play with a goal from Tanner Campbell.
Justin Wilson followed up with his eleventh goal of the season to make the score 2-0 Silverbacks.
Team captain Grayson Constable scored the Silverbacks’ third before the end of the opening period.
The Silverbacks dominated offensively, out-shooting the home team 14-7 in the first.
The ‘Backs didn’t let up the pressure as the game entered its second period; Riley Hayles scored at 7:03 assisted by Campbell and Rhett Kingston.
Two minutes later, Hudson Schandor followed it up with the Silverbacks’ fifth goal of the game. A shutout seemed imminent as the game entered its final period.
Coquitlam showed they still had some gas in the tank, taking advantage of a power play to score their first goal of the game at 7:44. They followed up with another goal from Eric Linell at the 12-minute mark as Silverbacks defenceman Ryan Hogg served out a two-minute holding penalty.
The Silverbacks held on to their three-goal lead to bring home the win; they travel to Trail to face-off against the Smoke Eaters on Feb. 10 before returning home to host Victoria on Feb. 16.
The Silverbacks’ 23-27-1 record has put them at sixth place in the Interior division and clinched them a playoff berth. They are two points behind the fifth-place West Kelowna Warriors with seven games remaining in the regular season.