Township of Langley, BC (Tuesday, February 24, 2015) – A hat-trick from Marcus Vela and another stellar performance by goaltender Bo Didur wasn’t enough as the Langley Rivermen (28-22-1-5) came up just short in double overtime, falling 4-3 to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks (28-20-3-5) on Tuesday night at the Langley Events Centre.
In their final home regular season game, the Rivermen needed two points to secure second spot in the Mainland Division, but it wasn’t meant to be as Thomas Plese scored 2:30 in double overtime to keep their own playoff hopes alive. Plese took advantage of a loose puck inside the blue line, skated in, outwaited Didur and backhanded home his eighth of the season.
Langley got things going when Vela opened up the scoring at 4:09 mark. The Silverbacks would answer with two straight goals of their own to take a 2-1 lead after twenty minutes.
66 seconds into the second period, Vela fooled Salmon Arm goaltender Angus Redmond from the right face-off circle as his shot found its way past the net minder to even the game at 2-2. The Apes countered mid-way through the frame thanks to Shane Danyluk who scored his twelfth of the season to regain a one goal lead. The Rivermen would tie it up with 29 seconds left in the second when Vela scored his third of the game and eighteenth of the season on a nice cross-ice feed from Justin Szeto.
The third period solved nothing as Langley played their second consecutive overtime game at the LEC. Szeto had two assists while Will Campion and Hunter Anderson also picked up helpers in the defeat.
The Rivermen picked up a point tonight and will get two more chances to lock up second place and a first round home playoff series when they wrap up the regular season with back-to-back games in Prince George this weekend. Langley needs just one point against the Spruce Kings, who can still surpass the Rivermen with two regulation wins.
Friday and Saturday night’s games can be heard on www.mixlr.com/langley-rivermen. Puck drop for both games are at 7:00PM at the Prince George Coliseum.
NOTES: Score: SA 4 – LAN 3 (2OT) Shots on Goal: LAN 29, SA 38. Power play: LAN 0-0, SA 1-3.Saves/Shots: LAN – Bo Didur 34/38 (L), SA – Angus Redmond 26/29 (L). Three Stars: 1st: SA Thomas Plese, 2nd: LAN Marcus Vela, 3rd: LAN Bo Didur. Fortis Energy Player: LAN: Brayden Barker
For details visit www.LangleyRivermen.com
