February 6th GAME PREVIEW - Warriors @ Silverbacks

The West Kelowna Warriors and Salmon Arm Silverbacks will meet for the 7th time this season, with the Warriors leading the season series by a 4-2 margin.

Last weekend the Warriors split with Merritt then got a big Tuesday win against the Vernon Vipers for a mini two game streak.

The Silverbacks got lights out goaltending from Angus Redmond in back-to-back shutouts of the Vipers. Salmon Arm has only allowed 1 goal in their last 3 games (Penticton beat them 1-0 on January 28th.)

There is no need to say anything to the players or coaches in this game about its playoff implications, as everyone is well aware of the scenario in both locker rooms. For those of you who may not be aware of it, let's take a look.

The Warriors sit 4 points ahead of the Silverbacks with 8 games left on West Kelowna's schedule. The Silverbacks have 2 games in hand on the Warriors, and will play those games in hand on Sunday against Surrey, and Wednesday when they head to Trail. Ultimately, all things will be considered equal after Wednesday night.

There are 5 different scenarios as to how it could all end up after tonight's game, so I'll try to keep it as simple as possible.

• West Kelowna could be anywhere from 2-6 points up on the Silverbacks after the action tonight.
• Currently, West Kelowna has the season series edge, however the BCHL tie-breaker (should the teams be tied in points AND in wins after the season) is "points accumulated in games between tied teams" and then "goal differential in games between tied teams"
• Should the Warriors win tonight, or go to OT, forget about the tie-breakers because West Kelowna would have more season series points so they'd have the edge. If there is a loss in regulation, this is how I have it figured out:
• West Kelowna would have accumulated 8 points in 7 games vs. SA (4 wins)
• Salmon Arm would have accumulated 8 points in 7 games vs. WK (3 wins + 2 OTL)
• Therefore each team would have the same number of points, thus pushing it to goal differential in games between these two teams.
• West Kelowna: 19 Goals For, 19 Goals Against (0 differential before tonight)
• Salmon Arm: 19 Goals For, 19 Goals Against (0 differential before tonight)
• Salmon Arm needs to win tonight in regulation and then they would have the tie-breakers.
• It's a complicated scenario based on a lot of "maybe's" but we'll have more on this after tonight's result.
• Remember Warriors fans, if there is a tie in points, it goes by WINS first, and right now West Kelowna has 3 more than the Silverbacks. The muddy picture will be murky after tonight, and somewhat transparent Thursday morning. Stay tuned.

Tonight's Stats:

Salmon Arm Silverbacks - 21-19-3-5 5th in Interior Division (50 Pts) HOME - 12-8-2-2 AWAY - 9-11-1-3 Top Scorer Andrew Farny  (95) D (14 G, 32 A) GF - 152 GA - 148 PP - 11th - 21.2% (36 for 170) PK - 9th - 77.7% (146 for 188)	West Kelowna – 24-20-0-6 T-3rd in Interior Division (54 Pts) HOME – 14-9-0-1 ROAD – 10-11-0-5 Top Scorer Liam Blackburn (96) F (21 G, 47 A) GF – 171 GA – 185 PP – 9th - 22.2% (53 for 239) PK – 4th - 80.4% (164 for 204)
Head-to-Head Lifetime – West Kelowna is 30-19-1-8 All-time vs. Salmon Arm 2013/2014 Head to Head – West Kelowna went 6-1 vs. Salmon Arm 2014/2015 Head to Head - West Kelowna is 4-2 against Salmon Arm