The Salmon Arm Silverbacks closed the door on Round 1 of their playoff series with a 4-1 win versus Merritt.
More than 1,300 people were in attendance for Game 5 of the series, held Friday evening, April 12, at Shaw Centre. Silverbacks fans hoping for a tie-breaker (the teams were at 2-2) were not disappointed.
The sole and winning goal of the game was a power-play conversion potted by Salmon Arm’s Jonah Aegerter at 15:30 in the first frame, assisted by Cole Cooksey and Ryan Philbrick. The Cents pulled their goalie in the final frame but were unable to find the back of the net.
The Silverbacks outshot the Cents with Andrew Ballantyne stopping 36 shots, while Salmon Arm’s Eli Pulver blocked 17.
Back in Merritt on April 13, Game 6 got off to a good start for the Silverbacks with an early goal in the first period delivered by Nathan Mackie, assisted by Ryan Gillespie. The ‘Backs successfully killed a pair of penalties in the latter half of the frame.
Second period saw an early goal by Cole Cooksey, assisted by Maddux Martin and Marcus Broberg. The Cents’ single came just after the halfway mark courtesy of Jaxson Murray.
The Silverbacks’ momentum continued into the third period, with Isaac Lambert advancing the team’s lead with an early goal assisted by Cole Longacre and Tanner Walos. At 16:55, Cooksey single-handedly added his second goal of the evening.
The Cents outshot the Silverbacks in this game, with Pulver blocking 31 shots and Ballantyne 14.
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