The Merritt Centennials (1-2) look to level the preseason series against the Prince George Spruce Kings (2-1) in their 4th meeting of the exhibition campaign.
This will be the final time the Cents face the Spruce Kings before moving on to face another foe in the exhibition season with the Trail Smoke Eaters on tap for next week.
The Spruce Kings hold the edge in the preseason so far, but the Centennials have had the most recent laugh a 2-1 victory that was delivered in the dying seconds thanks to a Ben Ward deflection with 3 seconds left in regulation. After a tight checking game that didn’t see any scoring until he second period. Grayson Valente tallied his first of the preseason on the powerplay by beating Trotter from a sharp angle to give the Cents the lead, Andrew Seaman tied the game in the second at even strength, before the late heroics thanks to a too many men on the ice penalty with 32 seconds to go.
In the games previous the Spruce Kings had the edge in Merritt as the road team has won every game so far. PG was able to beat the Cents by scores of 4-1 and 6-2 in their two victories. Since the last game, both teams have added some WHL help on loan until that league begins its season. The Cents have added veteran forward Brodi Stuart
The Cents relied on solid defense, keeping opponents to the outside, and stellar goaltending from rookie Colton Phillips-Watts to get past the Spruce Kings in the last contest, and will need the same with a bit more offense if they look to replicate the result.
The Cents are led by some veteran defenders who are putting up points. Trevor Isaksson has matched his season output in Trail last year through 3 games of the preseason with 3 points, Grayson Valente has 2, and 8 other Cents have chipped in at least a point.
The Spruce Kings are led by crafty Corey Cunningham and Andrew Seaman up front with 5 points, Christian Buono has 3 so far, and they have 5 other players with at least two points.
In the special teams battle, Prince George still maintains the edge, but the Cents got a bump from some solid numbers last time out.
Powerplay: Penalty Kill:
PG – 23.5% (5th) PG – 84.2% (6th)
Cents – 15.8% (11th) Cents – 76.5% (11th)
The goaltending duel sees rookie Colton Phillips-Watts as the hot hand after picking up his first BCHL victory. He’s 1-0 with a .960 SV% and a 1.00 goals against average. Veteran Josh Dias is 0-2 with an .833 SV% and a 5.00 GAA.
In the Spruce King crease it’s Aaron Trotter that sports the better numbers through limited action. He is 1-1 and has a .933 SV% with a 1.50 GAA while Jordan Fairlie is 1-0 with a .905 SV% and a 2.00 GAA.
Derek Sweet-Coulter was pleased with his team’s effort on the road, and hopes they can replicate it again.
“We want to be in that position where we are up one, down one, or tied heading into the final frame. If we have that, these boys are confident in their chances.”
The Cents are hoping that they can repeat the winning formula from last time out in Prince George.
Puck drop 7pm. Pre-game starting at 6:45 on Q101 with Jared Thomas and Michael Reeve.
A reminder to order your Cents Cutout – send a picture and a $50 etransfer to [email protected] to get yourself in the stands or order a cutout of your favourite Cents player. At the end of the season the whole team will sign your cutout.
