The Merritt Centennials fell to the Salmon Arm Silverbacks 7-3 at Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. The Cents lose the last game of the season series against the Silverbacks, and the second game of a home and home after winning last night at the Shaw Center.
Silverbacks goalie Angus Redmond saved 26 of 29 for the win. Cole Kehler got the loss for the Cents, stopping 6 of 11 before Colton Lancaster came in for relief in the 1st period. Lancaster saved 16 of 18 shots faced.
Josh Blanchard opened the scoring for Salmon Arm in the 1st, a shot that trickled through Keler at 4:37 of the 1st. Cameron Trott, Jared Turcotte, Mitch Skapski and Elijiah Barriga all added first period goals for the Silverbacks before Colton Lancaster came in.
The 2nd opened with a Damian Chrcek goal at 2:13. Merritt would go on the powerplay and appeared to add a goal by Colin Grannary before it was waived off. On the same powerplay, Grannary made no mistake and buried his 26th of the year. Merritt would press in the 2nd, feeling hot off the goal, but Chase Zieky took momentum back with 49 seconds left in the 2nd.
Merritt scored the only two goals of the 3rd period, with Tyler Ward and Colin Grannary beating Redmond. Ward scored his 17th of the year to tie him with Mitch Lipon and Grannary extended his point streat to 19 games, scoring 35 points in that span.
Merritt is still 6 points back from the Vernon Vipers for the final playoff spot in the BCHL’s Interior Conference.
The Merritt Centennials play the Vernon Vipers on Feburary 9th at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Puck Drop is at 7pm, pre game begins on Q101 at 6:45.
Cents fall to Silverbacks 7-3 at home
