Salmon Arm, BC – The Langley Rivermen allowed three goals in the first period and couldn’t dig out of the hole as they dropped a 4-1 decision to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks Saturday night.
The Rivermen outshot the Silverbacks in every period and had their share of chances but come home with the split of the two game road trip.
Cole McCaskill opened scoring for Salmon Arm 10:37 into the first on a rebound chance after Brock Crossthwaite made the initial save. Three minutes later Blake Box shot the puck from the point that deflected a couple times before finding the back of the net. Then just 26 seconds into the Silverbacks’ only power play of the game Max Becker got his fourth of the season to put Salmon Arm up 3-0 heading into the second.
The middle frame was a much better one overall for the Rivermen who outchanced the Silverbacks and got rewarded early as Austin Azurdia made a nice pass to Gage Torrel who made good on a one-timer beating Adam Clark to cut the lead to two. Despite a number of chances, the Rivermen could not close the gap any further. Then 6:13 into the third Landon Smith scored his 24th of the season to restore the three goal lead.
The Rivermen drop to 20-11-1-2 but remain atop the BCHL’s Mainland division. Langley closes out the pre-Christmas schedule with a three game home stand starting Friday night against the Surrey Eagles.
