Three unanswered goals in the third period vaulted the Salmon Arm Silverbacks past the visiting West Kelowna Warriors for a 5-3 B.C. Hockey League victory on Saturday in Salmon Arm.
Trailing 3-2 after 40 minutes, the Silverbacks got the tying goal from Chas Zieky on powerplay just 48 seconds into third period, while Josh Laframboise notched the winner at 11:52. Colton Thibault completed the comeback with an empty-netter.
The Warriors, looking to close a five-point gap between themselves and the second-place Silverbacks in the Interior Division, got the start they wanted when defenceman Rylan Yaremko scored his sixth of the season 15 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Thibault’s first goal — on a powerplay — pulled Salmon Arm even at 5:21 of the second, but goals by Kylar Hope and Kyle Marino gave the Warriors a two-goal lead before the Silverbacks got back to within one on Ross Heidt’s marker with 40 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
Brandon Kegler earned the win in goal for the hosts, stopping 40 of 43 West Kelowna shots, while Keelan Williams, in the Warriors’ goal for a second straight night (lost 3-1 to the Penticton Vees on Friday), also stopped 40 shots in suffering the defeat.
The Warriors, now seven points back of the Silverbacks, will travel to Prince George on Wednesday to take on the Spruce Kings. They return to Royal LePage Place in West Kelowna on Friday to host the Vernon Vipers. The Alberni Bulldogs are the visitors on Saturday.
Meanwhile in Penticton, the host Vees ran their winning streak to 22 games with a late third-period powerplay goal by Tyson Jost in a 4-3 decision over the visiting Cowichan Valley Capitals.
For Jost, a graduate of the Kelowna-based Okanagan Rockets of the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League, it was his second goal of the game and 21st of the season. The future (2016) North Dakota Redhawk (NCAA Div. 1) leads the league with 46 points, one more than Sheldon Rempal of the Nanaimo Clippers.
In Wenatchee on Saturday, the Vernon Vipers dropped a 3-2 decision to the Wild, who scored the winner (Jimmy Lambert) in overtime. Jagger Williamson and Odeen Tufto were the Vernon scorers.
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