Vernon, BC; It was an emotional night at Kal Tire Place as the North Okanagan paid tribute to the First Responders and the Humboldt Broncos. The ceremony was very special with both teams joining the First Responders at centre ice. When the puck dropped the Silverbacks had a goal and an assist from Nick Unruh and Matt Armitage stopped all 31 shots he faced as they shut out the Vipers 2-0.
There wasn’t a whole lot of action in the first period, but some quality chances were mixed in throughout. The Vipers had the best chances as Coleton Bilodeau and Connor Marritt converged on a puck but Armitage made a good pad save. Porter was good at the other end, so was the PK, killing off both Salmon Arm chances and the period ended scoreless.
In the second period, again the Vipers played well, limiting the Salmon Arm chances while generating their own. They made two small mistakes that cost them as the Vipers missed on a chance at one end, turning into a 3 on 2 the other way and Nick Unruh snapped home the games first goal. Less than 4 minutes later after a won faceoff, the Vipers turned the puck over and quickly the Backs turned it around and Tyson Gayfer scored to make it 2-0 after 2.
The Vipers were faced with a tall task to start the 3rd after a line scrum at the end of the 2nd resulted in the Vipers being down 5 on 3. The Vipers killed it and generated some momentum and chances, but again Matt Armitage was at his best. The best of the night coming off a rebound chance for Garrett Worth who turned a shot at the net, but a scrambling Armitage got a toe on it. A late push couldn’t break the shut out bid as the game finished 2-0 for Salmon Arm.
Here’s the Scoring Summary:
1ST PERIOD
NO SCORING
2ND PERIOD
SA – Nick Unruh (9) – Noah Wakeford (14), Sam MacBean (3) – 9:35
SA – Tyson Gayfer (6) – Nick Unruh (7), Noah Wakeford (15) – 12:57
3RD PERIOD
NO SCORING
The Vipers welcome the Trail Smoke Eaters on Sautrday night as their homestand continues.