One former Cowichan Valley Capitals player set up another for the winning goal as the Salmon Arm Silverbacks beat the Caps 3-1 at the Island Savings Centre on Wednesday night.
Ryan Hogg — a Cowichan Valley Minor Hockey product who spent three and a half years with the Caps — assisted on the go-ahead goal by Trevor Ayre early in the third period of Wednesday night’s B.C. Hockey League tilt, a rescheduled contest that was originally supposed to take place on Feb. 10.
Hogg and Ayre were traded together to Salmon Arm in January in exchange for veteran forwards Mitch Skapski and Haydn Hopkins. Skapski also made a mark against his former team on Wednesday as he assisted on Ayden MacDonald’s second-period goal, all the offence the Caps were able to muster.
The Caps went penalty-free on the night, but they weren’t able to capitalize on either of their two powerplay opportunities, both of which came in the second period.
Cowichan goalie Lane Michasiw allowed two goals on 17 shots, and the Silverbacks scored their third goal into the empty net after he was pulled for the extra attacker. The Caps fired 31 pucks at Salmon Arm netminder Trevin Kozlowski, who only let one slip past.
Heading into the last weekend of the regular season, the Caps are still battling with the Nanaimo Clippers for playoff positioning. Both teams have two games left, and the Caps hold a one-point edge over the Clippers, as well as the tiebreaker, with 23 wins to the Clips’ 22.
Cowichan will play host to the Alberni Valley Bulldogs this Friday at 7 p.m. and the Powell River Kings on Sunday at the Island Savings Centre at 2 p.m.