The two best teams in the B.C. Hockey League will clash in the Shuswap on Wednesday night.
The league-leading Salmon Arm Silverbacks (26-4-2-1-0), who have 55 points through 33 regular-season games, will host the Penticton Vees (25-6-0-2-0).
The Vees, who have also played 33 games, are just behind, with 52 points. Game time at the Shaw Centre in Salmon Arm is 7 p.m.
The contest will be the third of six games this season between the two elite franchises, with Salmon Arm having won the two earlier matches: a 4-3 shootout win on Dec. 10, and 5-2 on Jan. 12.
Both of those games happened in Penticton. In the first meeting, Penticton outshot Salmon Arm 43-21. It was the same in the second game, though closer at 32-23.
The two teams will clash twice more this month, with both games in Salmon Arm: Feb. 16 and Feb. 23, then in Penticton on March 9 before regular-season play ends on March 27.
The Silverbacks enter Wednesday’s tilt riding a 12-game point streak, not having lost since Dec. 4. And for the month of January, they went 6-2, outscoring their opponents 36-19.
Their last game, though, was a 6-5 shootout loss in Cranbrook on Jan. 29. Salmon Arm outshot the Bucks 42-29.
Meanwhile, the Vees went 4-3 in January, losing their first three games before rolling off four straight wins, including three in a row over Wenatchee. In their four-game win streak, Penticton has outscored its opposition 26-6.
Statistically, Penticton has the league’s best offence, having scored a league-leading 163 goals, and best defence, having surrendered just 77 goals.
Salmon Arm has the BCHL’s third-best offence, with 138 goals, and second-best defence, with 80 goals against.
Elsewhere, on Wednesday night, the Vernon Vipers (13-14-3-3-0) will visit the Trail Smoke Eaters (16-15-1-1-0). Game time at Cominco Arena is 7 p.m.
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