Tonight in the WLA the New Westminster Salmonbellies face off against the Maple Ridge Burrards. The Salmonbellies are coming off a hard fought 12-11 loss against Burnaby while the Burrards are coming off their first loss of the season after losing 11-7 to the Langley Thunder. Both these teams will look to rebound with a win tonight.
The Burrards success so far this season has been due to their potent offense. Mike Mallory, Riley Loewen and Andrew Murphy have been on fire with each reaching double digits in points in just three games this season. The Maple Ridge offense has been able to dominate games so far this season as shown by their 15-3 win over Langley. Against the Salmonbellies the Burrards will want to pressure Neil Tyacke in net for the Salmonbellies and just bury him with shots as his save percentage this year has been terrible as he has posted a .770 save percentage. So far this season the Burrards goaltending has been stellar with Chris Levi posting a 7.09 goals against average. Levis should be able to get comfortable in this game and will not face much pressure from the Salmonbellies offense. In order to win the Burrads just need to play smart defensively and just slow down Jordan McBride who runs the Salmonbellies offense.
For the Salmonbellies they need to avoid getting into an offensive battle with the Burrards because if they try to run and gun against the Burrards they will lose. The Salmonbellies need to play a smart defensive game and force turnovers and beat the Burrards in transition. The Salmonbellies need their offense to step up as they have been struggling this season as they have scored only 22 goals so far this season the lowest amount of any team in the WLA. The Salmonbellies need to make sure to avoid letting Neil Tyacke be pressured by the Burrards offense and buy him space. In the end the Salmonbellies will be facing an uphill battle against the Burrards.
The Burrards should win this game as they have been performing well in all areas so far this season and should have the offensive power to overcome anything the Salmonbellies throw at them.
