SilverBacks run over by hungry Smoke Eaters

With two of their next three games against the Trail Smoke Eaters, the Salmon Arm SilverBacks will need to rebound quickly after being beaten in every meaningful area of the ice on Friday.

Trail was faster, stronger and wanted the victory more; there's no one who would argue that they didn't deserve their two points in a 4-1 victory over the SilverBacks.

The 'Backs now get a day off, regrouping for a Sunday home game against Powell River.

1st Period:

• Things went south early for Salmon Arm, with back-to-back penalties against Shane Hanna that helped set the offensive tempo for Trail.
• While the 'Backs were good on the penalty-kill, they continuously turned the puck over for 60 minutes and seemed to have a very difficult time making any passes, especially to exit their own zone.
• Adam Clark was the only saving grace, making 49 saves overall, including a number in the opening twenty minutes that kept the game scoreless.
• Even as the better team, Trail nearly went to the dressing room down a goal, but were bailed out by a great Adam Todd save on a Brayden Sherbinin power-play slap shot.

2nd Period:

• Trail finally made it 1-0 on an odd-man rush, one of many in the game that was capitilzed on by Tyler Berkholtz.
• The Smokies made it 3-0 in the 2nd with goals from Knowler and Addouno, on similar looking plays involving SilverBack defensive breakdowns.
• Shane Hanna was ejected late in the period for a hit to the head of Luke Sandler at the blue-line, it was a heavy hit from a player who doesn't throw his weight around much, resulting in a scrap with Scott Davidson that lasted for what seemed like a good forty seconds.

3rd Period:

• While Salmon Arm killed off the five minute penalty, it didn't matter much, the 'Backs weren't able to generate enough chances to make the game interesting.
• The lone SilverBack goal came on a odd man rush thanks to Evan Anderson on a great pass from Sherbinin.
• Trail hit the empty net for an eventual 4-1 final

The final shot total favoured Trail by a margin of 53-32, showing just how important Adam Clark was to keeping the score respectable, although he never got the necessary support to allow his effort to mean something.

A positive note from tonight is knowing that this group will have to come out with more pride and effort on Sunday, they can't afford not too.