The Merritt Centennials (9-21-1-3) welcome a recent foe in the Powell River Kings (17-16-2-0) to the NVMA tonight.
The Cents are coming off an island road swing where they picked up 3 of a possible 6 points. The lone win on the road trip came against these very Kings 4-3, they suffered a shootout loss to the Cowichan Valley Capitals 3-2, and a loss to the Nanaimo Clippers 7-0. A couple Cents had some big performances over the weekend, none bigger than Tanner Marshall who earned an honorable mention in the BCHL Player of the Week for his role in the Cents road trip. He went 1-0-0-1 with a 957 SV%, a 1.92 GAA, and a 1st Star nod for a game in Duncan against the Caps where he stopped a BCHL season high 57 shots. Hunor Torzsok kept up his torrid pace in the goal department as he now leads the team with 10 goals, and the Cents have picked up points in 3 of their last 5 games.
The Kings are coming off a game against the Langley Rivermen where they lost 4-1 with Miller tallying the lone goal, but before that haven’t played since their 4-3 loss to the Cents. In that game, the Cents opened the scoring after Jerzy Orchard dropped his stick in the corner and picked it up just in time to have the puck bounce to him off a rebound to pot it home to give the Cents a 1-0 lead. The game was quickly tied by Reilly Moran who launched a shot up and over Marshall to make it 1-1. Rylan Van Unen scored a powerplay goal to restore the 2-1 lead, but a freak goal by Jack Long tied things up before the end of one. The Cents then cashed in in quick succession in the 2nd frame scoring 2 powerplay goals with 15 seconds left from Payton Matsui and Hunor Torzsok to get a 4-2 lead. Reilly Moran would score early in the 3rd on a powerplay, but the Cents would hang on for the win.
The Cents are led offensively by the player that one the Hard to Play Against Hat against Powell River – Christian Buono with 24 points. Payton Matsui is coming off a 3 point performance against the Kings and has 22 points. Thomas Manty registered an assist against the Kings and leads the team rookies with 18 points.
The Kings are led by sniper Reilly Moran who has 25 points, former Cent Brett Roloson has 25 as well, and winger Michael Abgrall has 22 points.
The special teams battle sees the Cents coming off a strong 3/5 performance against the Kings.
Powerplay: Penalty Kill:
Cents – 10.1% (17th) Cents – 72.3% (16th)
PR – 14.9% (15th) PR – 71.9% (17th)
The battle in the blue paint sees Tanner Marshall coming off a great weekend, but with 4 games to play the Cents will need to manage their goaltending situation. Marshall is 6-9-1 with an .885 SV% and a 4.46 GAA. Ryan Winter is 2-10-2 with a .900 SV%, a 4.15 GAA, and 1 shutout.
The Powell River Kings have Derek Krall and Thomas Wardle as options between the pipes. Krall is 13-5-1 with a .910 SV% and a 2.74 GAA with 1 shutout. Wardle is 4-3-1 with a .900 SV%, a 3.11 GAA and 1 shutout.
Head Coach Derek Sweet Coulter says the team has to focus on the positives from the weekend and be ready to move on.
“I think there were a lot of things during the weekend that we can look back on and be proud of. We need to harness that and be ready to play against this club that is itching at a second crack at us.”
The Cents will look to be getting some positive results tonight.
Puck drop 7pm. Pre-game 6:45 on Q101 and Hockey TV with Jared Thomas and Michael Reeve.
