The Merritt Centennials played two of their strongest periods of the season on Wednesday versus the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, but the third period led to a comeback that the Bulldogs were able to convert into a shootout win.
In the first period, as had been the case all season with the Cents, goaltending was a huge factor with Ryan Winter holding down the fort in his own end to ensure no Bulldogs captured an edge. The Cents got an early goal from Hunor Torzsok on a beauty saucer pass from Joey Berkopec to make it 1-0. Daniel Tkac then scored on a great individual effort from off the half wall to make it 2-0. After 1 the Cents led on the scoreline and trailed on the shot clock 18-13.
The second frame saw the Cents add another to the stat sheet. Ryan Winter made a huge stop at one end, which spurned a rush the other way and Josh Kagan was able to capitalize the make it 3-0 by keeping with a puck that was initially stopped at the blue line and eventually putting it over the pad of Pearson. That would be the only goal of the second period, despite some late chances from the Centennials. Shots after 2 were 29-26 in favour of the Cents.
In the final frame the Cents started shorthanded and weren’t able to kill off the penalty as the Bulldogs tallied with just 3 seconds remaining to get the home town crowd back in the game. Jackson Doucet then make it 3-2 with a 2 on 1 effort where he sniped high to get Alberni back in the game. Jacob Bosse was able to tie the game with 5 minutes with a deke to the backhand in tight. The Cents tried to push back for the difference maker, but they spent too much time chasing and just hung on for the 3-3 tie into overtime.
In OT, the Cents and Bulldogs skated for almost the entire frame at 4 on 4 because of a late penalty in the third, and the flow of play. The Cents and Bulldogs were able to solve nothing in extra time.
In the shootout, solid moves from Daniel Tkac, Josh Kagan, and Christian Buono all went by the way side. Bosse was the lone scorer with a shot on the shootout to secure the comeback victory for Alberni Valley.
After the game Derek Sweet-Coulter said the Cents battled hard, but still need to learn how to win.
“We are trying to develop habits that are going to help us win in the playoffs, and we need to finish games where we have a lead.”
The Cents will look to take the lesson into Friday night against the Vernon Vipers.
