The Merritt Centennials honoured longtime fan Elva Reid on Friday night at their home opener with a pre-game ceremony before 950 fans at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, but came up short on the ice in a 2-1 loss to Salmon Arm.
All scoring in the game came in the first half of the first period as the SilverBacks opened a 1-0 lead at 5:11 on an unassisted goal by Brett Knowles. The Cents replied at 8:46 as Jakob Reichert scored his first career BCHL goal with assists from Alexander MacMillan and Silvan Harper. 46 seconds later, Bryce Gervais notched the eventual winner from Brandon Mistal and Josh Manson at 9:22.
The goaltenders took over from there as neither Jared Andersen for Merritt nor Kris Moore for Salmon Arm allowed another goal on the night.
The Centennials held the edge on the shot clock 43-38 while each team was perfect on the penalty kill. The SilverBacks went 0/6 on the power play and Merritt was 0/4.
The Cents next game is a return match-up with Salmon Arm on Saturday night at the Sunwave Centre.
