Eli Pulver made 37 saves and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks beat the Penticton Vees 2-0 at the South Okanagan Events Centre on Thursday, May 2, in Game 1 of the Interior Conference Finals.
The Silverbacks netminder stopped 13 shots in the final frame, to secure his third shutout of the 2024 BCHL playoffs.
Cole Longacre and Ryan Gillespie scored for Salmon Arm, who lead the best-of-seven series 1-0.
“There wasn’t much I didn’t like about our game tonight,” said Matt Miller, the Vees’ director of hockey operations. “From puck drop, through to the end of the game, we showed a lot of effort. We created a lot of looks but just didn’t capitalize.”
Goaltender Andrew Ness got the start for the Vees but was pulled after allowing two goals in 26 minutes.
The Silverbacks fired just 11 shots on net, including on Ness’ eventual replacement, Will Ingemann.
Longacre scored his second of the playoffs at 7:30 of the first period, with Jonah Aegerter and JJ Monteiro adding assists.
Gillespie extended the Silverbacks’ lead at 6:02 of the middle frame. Isaac Lambert and Pulver recorded helpers on the forward’s third marker of the postseason.
Thursday marked the Vees’ first home loss of the playoffs.
Salmon Arm has won four postseason games in a row, dating back to its second-round series with West Kelowna.
The teams meet again in Penticton on Friday, May 3, for the conference finals’ second game.
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