Photo Credit: Garrett James and Pure Life Photography
The Merritt Centennials (15-9-0-1) go into the confines of the Shaw Centre to take on the Silverbacks (13-8-1-0) tonight.
The Cents are coming off a disappointing 3-2 loss against the Wenatchee Wild at home. The period started with promise, and the Cents dinged a couple posts early off shots from Brady Ziemer and Christian Sabin. The Cents would get the only goal of the period from Matt Kopperud late to take a one goal lead into the second. Kopperud would convert early in the 2nd, but after that it was all Wild as they slowly started to take control of the game. The Wild would score two in the second period to tie things heading into the third, and make it three unanswered to win the game. Nick Wicks and Mathieu Gosselin both finished the game with 2 assists, and Vincent Duplessis would shoulder the loss stopping 33/36 shots.
The Cents look to regroup against a division rival tonight, and one that hasn’t been too accommodating in it’s home building. The Salmon Arm Silverbacks post a 10-1-1-0 record at home, but the Cents will take solace in the fact that they were the lone team to beat them in regulation. The season series sees the Cents with a 2-1 edge. They dropped the season opener 4-2 in Salmon Arm, then returned a week later to top the ‘Backs 5-2, and more recently the Cents shutout the Salmon Arm at the NVMA 5-0. Offense has come from all over in the season series as the Cents have 10 different players who have tallied goals against Salmon Arm, and following a night where only one line was going it will take contributions from the whole lineup to get the W.
Salmon Arm is playing pretty hot as of late, they are 4-1 in their last 5 games with the lone blip coming against the Penticton Vees last weekend. In their most recent games the ‘Backs fell 4-2 against the Vees before bouncing back with a 4-3 victory in OT against the Vernon Vipers. The Cents should be wary of extra time against Salmon Arm as the ‘Backs are 4-1 in games that go beyond 60 minutes.
The Cents top weapons were held off the score sheet against the Wild, but hold down their BCHL rankings: Brad Cocca is 3rd with 35 points, Nick Granowicz is 4th with 33 points, and by virtue of picking up 7 assists over the last 3 games Mathieu Gosselin has moved up to 6th in scoring in the BCHL with 32 points.
The Silverbacks don’t have any scorers in the top 20, but have been getting it done by committee. Rookie Matthew Verboon leads the way with 20 points, Trevor Adams and Hudson Schandor are tied with 17 points, and Noah Wakeford has 16.
The special teams battle sees the Silverbacks with the edge:
Powerplay: Penalty Kill:
‘Backs – 19.8% (8th) ‘Backs – 82% (8th)
Cents – 18.7% (10th) Cents – 77.5% (15th)
The goaltending battle sees Vincent Duplessis coming off a loss, but a strong performance, and Austin Roden sitting on an 8-3 win against the West Kelowna Warriors. Roden is 9-5 with a .889 SV%, a 3.74 GAA, and 1 shutout. Duplessis is now 6-3-1 with a .908 SV% and a 3.23 GAA. For the Silverbacks, Ethan Langenegger is 9-7 with a .913 SV% and a 2.96 GAA. Newly acquired Matthew Armitage is 2-1 with a .922 SV% and a 2.62 GAA.
Head Coach Joe Martin anticipates his team having a solid bounce back game against a tough opponent.
“The Silverbacks are a strong club, they have depth throughout the line up, and they’ve been playing well at home. It will take us really sticking to our game plan to come out on top.”
Puck Drop 7pm. Pre-Game 6:45 on HockeyTV and Q101.ca with Jared Thomas.
