(Front page images courtesy Shawn Zacharias)
The Salmon Arm SilverBacks came into Penticton Tuesday night and, despite being out shot 41-22, skated to a 3-1 win over the Vees in Game 1 of their Interior Conference semifinal series.
Mike Hammond opened the scoring on the power play 13:28 into the first frame on only one of four Salmon Arm shots in the first period. In the second, there were no goals but plenty of chances both ways with Penticton out shooting Salmon Arm 14-8. Kris Moore stopped a number of quality chances to keep the SilverBacks in the lead.
In the third, it was Hammond who was back at work scoring just 55 seconds to extend the Gorillas lead to 2-0. Troy Strecher scored for the Vees to bring Penticton within a goal. With time dwindling, Penticton pulled goalie Joel Rumpel and the Vees kept the pressure on, but with eight seconds to go, Hammond found the empty net to finish his hat trick.
Moore stopped 40 of 41 shots to take 1st Star with Hammond after him and Stecher taking 3rd Star.
Elsewhere in the BCHL, it was Surrey rebounded with a 6-1 win over the Langley Chiefs, tying that series 1-1. A three-goal first period was all the Eagles would need as they went on to outshoot the Chiefs 48-27. Surrey's Brad McGowan was 1st Star with three assists. Austin Plevy had the lone Langley goal. Surrey was 3-9 on the power play while Langley was 0-5.
In Vernon, the Vipers edged the Westside Warriors 3-2 in a game that saw Vernon up 3-0 in the third on goals by Marcus Basara, Dane Muench and Colton Sparrow. Westside crept within a goal after tallies by Tyler Krause and Matthew Maher but it was as close as they'd get.
In Powell River, the Kings had 46 shots on net in a 6-2 win over the Victoria Grizzlies in Game 1 of that series. The Kings scored twice each period, getting two goals from Daniel Schuler and Chad Niddery. Victoria tied the game briefly at the midway point of the second on a Pearce Eviston goal but Craig Dalrymple provided the winner 31 seconds later.
