The Salmon Arm Silverbacks power their way to a commanding 5-1 victory over the West Kelowna Warriors Friday night.
The first period was mainly controlled by the West Kelowna Warriors who spent a longer time in the Silverbacks zone but they couldn’t beat goaltender Ethan Langenegger who made a couple sensational goal saving stops to keep the Warriors at bay. The Silverbacks however were able to capitalize on every chance they had handed to them. First it was Aiden Jenner who was able to back hand the puck past some traffic in front of the net to make it 1-0. At the midway mark of the period a turnover in the Warriors zone lead Logan Shaw to fire a slap shot from point which was tipped by Silverbacks forward Matthew Verboon to make it 2-0. The Silverbacks would then go on the powerplay late and score again with a screened shot from the left side circle from Nick Unruh to make it 3-0. Warriors goaltender Brock Baier didn’t have much vision for all three Silverbacks goals faced. Warriors still out shot the Silverbacks 15-11 after the first.
The Silverbacks carried the play in the second period but were only able to cash in on one goal just after their first powerplay expired it was Nick Unruh scoring his second of the hockey game to make it 4-0. The Warriors would have another powerplay opportunity but couldn’t beat Silverbacks goaltender Ethan Langenegger. Towards the end of the period during a scrum, Warriors forward Chase Dubois and Silverbacks defender Darren Rizzolo dropped the gloves which took both Dubois and Rizzolo out of the game for 10 minutes.
The Warriors would push in the third period and would finally solve Silverbacks goaltender Ethan Langenegger but only once. It was a goal by Austin Chorney off a rebound which ended the shut out. The Warriors would take a couple more penalties late in the period forcing the momentum back to the Silverbacks. Silverbacks would cap things off with an empty net goal from Jerrod Semchuk to make it a 5-1 final.
Shots on goal 42-37 in favor of the Warriors.
3 Stars
- SA G Ethan Langenegger (41 Saves)
- SA F Nick Unruh (2G)
- SA F Aiden Jenner (1G-1A)