Bucks pick up four points in homestand after win over the Silverbacks

Teo Pisani scored a hat trick as the Cranbrook Bucks defeated the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 3-2 at Western Financial Place on Saturday (Oct. 24), closing their homestand with two wins.

Pisani opened the scoring at 12:21 of the first period, with Mykola Kosarev and Mitch Patrick drawing assists.

Four minutes later, Pisani scored his second goal on the power play, sending the puck into the left side of the net. Kaslo Ferner and Jack McMinn had the assists.

Salmon Arm’s Alexis Beaulieu cut the lead to one on a five-on-three advantage at 17:43 of the second period.

Pisani completed his hat trick at 2:04 of the third period, with Patrick and Gryphon Watson-Bucci drawing assists.

Cash Olson responded for the Silverbacks 50 seconds later to cut the lead to one.

Cranbrook goaltender Jason Tremblay made 26 saves on 28 shots, while Salmon Arm’s Mikkel Christensen stopped 21 of 24.

Bucks head coach Roshen Jaswal praised the team’s progress but said there was still room for improvement.

“Yeah, I thought it was obviously a good weekend in terms of the results. Our process could be a little better, I think, at times,” said Jaswal.

“But again, good teams find a way to win. And I think our team’s learned how to be resilient.

“And tonight, I think if we can score a few of those earlier on and in the third, even, we had some good opportunities to put a game away.

“I think that’s something that we can work on and putting teams away a little earlier. But again, we held on there and found a way to win.”

Jaswal has emphasized learning to play with a lead this season and said he saw improvement on Saturday (Oct. 24).

“I think we’re getting better at it. I still think we’re kind of not panicking, but we’re still, the composure with the puck late in the games is a little bit lacking still,” he added.

“But they’re young, right? They’re young kids, and they’re young men. So, we’re getting there. The process and the progress is there, which is good.”

Jaswal also praised the team’s composure and Pisani’s three-goal performance.

“Teo had a great game, obviously the hat trick. Our power play was good. I thought our penalty kill was overall pretty good. They got, obviously, a weird one on the five on three,” Jaswal said.

“But just really happy with our group and how we stuck together and kept building towards the end of that game and closed it out.”

The Bucks finished the homestand with four points, including Friday’s win over the Saints. Jaswal said he was pleased with the weekend’s results and the team’s progress.

“I mean, when you come away from it with four points in two games, it’s always a nice thing. Hopefully the fans were happy. Sounded like they were loud at the end there, which is good,” he added.

“So, we’re getting closer to breaking that 2,000 barrier of attendance. So, it’d be nice if we can get that on Friday next week or as we build to it.”

The Bucks next face the Blackfalds Bulldogs at Western Financial Place on Oct. 30.