The Merritt Centennials (8-20-1-2) begin the island road swing with a clash against the Powell River Kings (17-14-2-0) tonight.
The Centennials will be looking to channel the team that came back from 5 goals down in the third period against the Vernon Vipers last Sunday afternoon. After trailing 4-0 after the first, and 6-1 after the second, the Cents found themselves down 7-2 with just over 10 minutes to play in the third period. Hunor Torzsok sent the teddy’s flying towards the tail end of the 2nd and then picked up another goal in the early goings of the third to have the Cents behind by 5. The avalanche started with a snowball with Jerzy Orchard sitting in front and scoring his 1st as a Cent and first in the BCHL to bring the Cents up to 7-3. Then Chase Nameth drove up the middle and fired a wrister off all three bars and in to make it 7-4. Torzsok then completed the hat trick with another deflection in front to make it 7-5 with just under 3 minutes to go. The Vipers tried to stem the tide by taking a time out, but it didn’t work. Chase Nameth quickly threw a wrister on net after a Cents beauty break in, and he finished it by sniping bar and in to pull the Cents within one. Captain Rylan Van Unen completed the come back by shovelling in a back door pass from Torzsok to tie the game up at 7-7 and send it to overtime. The Cents battled through an OT penalty to get it to the shootout, and despite scoring the first goal in the skills competition, couldn’t hang on for the victory and fell for the second time in a week in the shootout 8-7. Despite the loss in the column, many around the team still considered it a win to climb all the way back.
That wrapped up a busy week for the Centennials, and they have another busy one ahead as they will have 3 games in 3 nights on the Island road swing and it starts with the Kings tonight. After starting the season with a bang, and then going through a tough stretch, Powell River is starting to figure things out once more. They are 4-0-1 in their last 5 games and will come into this one off the heels of a 4-1 win over the Alberni Valley Bulldogs, dropped their lone game in that stretch 5-4 to the Capitals in overtime, won 5-1 over the Surrey Eagles, 2-1 over the Spruce Kings, and shutout the West Kelowna Warriors 3-0. The Kings made moves to address their goaltending and now have two bonafied options in net, have tweaked with their forward group, and look ready to make another run at the Island Division championship. The Cents will need their full bag of tricks to top the Kings.
This will be the first of the season series, and two players that were traded for one another continue to lead their respective teams in offense. Christian Buono has pulled into a tie with Daniel Tkac for the team lead in points with 23, Payton Matsui has 19 points, and rookie Thomas Manty now has 17.
The Kings are led by former Cent Brett Roloson up front with 24 points, Reilly Moran has 23 points, and Levi Glasman has 21.
The special teams battle sees both teams struggling on both units and will be a battle of the league’s basement in that regard. Both teams will be trying to show off some of their adjustments and improvements they’re trying to make.
Powerplay: Penalty Kill:
Cents – 9% (17th) Cents – 71% (17th)
Kings – 14.8% (16th) Kings – 73.1% (16th)
The battle in the crease sees both Centennials netminders hungry ahead of the road trip. Tanner Marshall is 5-9-1 with an .875 SV% and a 4.75 GAA. Ryan Winter is 2-9-2 with a .906 SV% and a 3.96 GAA, with 1 shutout.
Derek Krall has been the guy since coming back from the Penticton Vees for Powell River. He is 13-4-1 with a .912 SV%, a 2.66 GAA, and 1 shutout. Thomas Wardle was picked up from the Coquitlam Express and is 4-2-1 with a .901 SV%, a 2.99 GAA and 1 shutout.
Head Coach Derek Sweet-Coulter says the team has everything it needs to be successful.
“I think what we found out against the Vipers is that all the tools are in the toolbox. We just need to make sure we come to work.”
The Cents will look to find some success tonight.
Puck drop 7pm. Pre-game 6:45 on Q101 and Hockey TV with Jared Thomas.
A reminder to sign up for the Planet Fitness Online 50/50 which is sitting at a jackpot of just under $900 with the draw going on Tuesday at 3pm here: https://centsweekly5050.thelottofactory.com/
