A roundup of junior hockey results from the Okanagan and area.
B.C. HOCKEY LEAGUE
The Salmon Arm Silverbacks are one win away from advancing to the league championship series, despite being heavily outshot on Friday night.
At Penticton on Friday night, Eli Pulver stopped 38 of 39 shots as the Silverbacks downed the Vees before a crowd of 2,455 at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Salmon Arm leads the best-of-seven series 3-2, with Game 6 to take place Saturday night in Salmon Arm.
Tanner Walos, who opened the scoring midway through the first period, Reid Varkonyi, who made it 2-1 late in the second, and Nathaniel Davis, with an insurance marker with nine seconds left in the third, scored for Salmon Arm.
James Fisher, who levelled the score at 1-1 with a power-play goal six seconds into the second, replied for Penticton, which outshot their opponents 39-21.
Will Ingemann stopped 18 shots for the Vees, who had the second-best record during the regular season.
Penticton (38-10-3-3-0) tallied 82 points, to finish atop the Interior Division. Meanwhile, Salmon Arm (34-17-0-3-0) finished third, 11 points back at 71.
The Surrey Eagles (44-8-2-0-0) had the league’s best record with 90 points and are also on the doorstep of advancing to the league final.
They are up 3-1 in the Coastal Conference final against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, with Game 5 scheduled for Saturday night in Surrey.
On Wednesday, Ryan Gillespie scored the game-winner in overtime as Salmon Arm posted a 2-1 victory in Game 4 to level the series at 2-2.
If the Vees win on Saturday night, Game 7 would occur Tuesday night in Penticton.
WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
NHL draft pick Matthew Savoie scored the game-winning goal, with three minutes remaining in the third period, as the Warriors downed the Winterhawks in the opening game of the WHL’s championship series.
Atley Calvert and Denton Mateychuk also scored for Moose Jaw, which entered Game 1 on Friday night with short rest following a gruelling series against top-ranked Saskatoon.
The Eastern Conference championship went the distance, with Moose Jaw winning 4-3. Six of the seven games went to overtime, including Game 7 on Tuesday night, which the Warriors won 3-2 despite being outshot 39-22 by the Blades.
Savoie was drafted in the first round of 2022, ninth overall, by the Buffalo Sabres. In 23 games with Moose Jaw this year after being traded by the Wenatchee Wild, Savoie talked 19 goals and 47 points.
His game-winner in Game 1 at Portland, before a crowd of 6,486, came at 16:58 of the third.
Diego Buttazzoni and Gabe Klassen replied for Portland, which trailed 2-0 six minutes into the second period following a scoreless first.
Jackson Unger stopped 31 of 33 shots for the Warriors, with Jan Spunar making 34 saves on 37 shots for the Winterhawks.
Both teams were scoreless on the power play, with Moose Jaw at 0-for-3 and Portland at 0-for-1.
Game 2 is scheduled for Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, with Moose Jaw hosting Games 3, 4 and 5 next Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
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