Mark Zengerle scored two goals and two assists and David Killip had two goals and an assists to lead Salmon Arm to a 7-3 win over the Merritt Centennials on Saturday night in the first meeting of the regular season between the two teams.
Zengerle scored his first goal with assists from Bobby Lipsett and Devon Roeszler at 5:41 to put the Silverbacks ahead 2-0 in the first period and his second off assists from Tyler Gubb and Josh Manson to extend the Backs lead to 6-3.
Brett Knowles scored an unassisted goal shorthanded at 18:57 of the third period to cap Salmon Arm's offensive burst to make it 7-3.
Brad Bourke, Jeff Zmurchyk and Alex Valenti each scored for the Cents in the second period. Merritt goalie Cole Holowenko started the game and made 10 saves on 15 shots before making way for Keith Hamilton, who made 16 saves on 18 shots while playing the rest of the game.
Salmon Arm made it 5-0 when Killip was credited with a goal at 7:31 of the second period with the Centennials down two men. That goal caused Holowenko to be pulled in favour of Hamilton.
The Cents return to action Sunday afternoon with their first visit of the season to Westside.
