Photo Credit: Garrett James
The Merritt Centennials (15-8-0-1) look to finish a perfect home stand when they welcome the Wenatchee Wild (12-9-2-0) to the NVMA tonight.
The Centennials are coming off another strong weekend that saw them take both games, and now three in a row. The Cents vanquished the Vipers on Friday night by a score of 4-3, and followed it up with an offensive battering of the West Kelowna Warriors 8-3. The powerplay played a big part over the weekend going a combined 7/12 or 58%! Mathieu Gosselin chipped in for 5 assists, Matt Kopperud showed off his skilled hands with 2 goals and a helper, and Nick Granowicz earned himself a BCHL Player of the Week honorable mention for his 3 goal and assist effort over the weekend. The honorable mention marks a hat trick from Granowicz in that regard, and he also had both game-winning goals on the weekend to give him the team lead with 5. Offense abounded during the weekend with contributions coming from up and down the lineup. Newly acquired forward Payton Matsui impressed and had one assist in his first two games, and goaltender Austin Roden even hit the scoresheet with a secondary assist. It now leaves Vincent Duplessis as the lone player on the Centennials without a point.
The season series between these two clubs sits 2-1 in favour of the Centennials. The last time these two teams met was down under in Wenatchee where the Cents split the double-header. In game one, the Cents came back from a slow start to win 4-3 in overtime, but in game 2 the Wild didn’t allow the Cents to get off the mat and crushed them 6-1.
The Wild spent last weekend playing host to a couple of Mainland Division opponents and capitalized on a 5-2 win over Surrey and a 6-1 win over the Coquitlam Express. Josh Arnold had a 3 point night, and was a force to be reckoned with when these teams faced each other in Wenatchee.
The Cents are still holding form offensively, and now sit just 1 goal back of 100 for the season. Brad Cocca has provided 35 points for 3rd in league scoring, Nick Granowicz’s 18 goals are good enough for 2nd in the league and his 33 points are 4th, and Mathieu Gosselin has moved up to 7th BCHL-wide with a 5 assist weekend and 30 points.
The Wild are led by Captain Lucas Sowder with 25 points (good enough for 19th overall), Murphy Stratton with 22, and Matt Gosiewski with 20 points.
The special teams battle sees both teams with an edge:
Powerplay: Penalty Kill:
Cents – 19.5% – 9th Cents – 77% – 15th
Wild – 17.8% – 12th Wild – 80.6% – 9th
The goaltending duel sees both Centennials netminders playing well. Austin Roden is coming off an 8-3 victory and is now 9-5 with a .889 SV%, a 3.74 GAA and 1 shutout. Vincent Duplessis won a couple in a row and sports a .907 SV% and a 3.25 GAA. The Wild have split time between both their goalies. Cal Sandqvist is 6-4 with a .885 SV% and a 2.43 GAA while Austin Park is 6-7 with a .872 SV% and a 3.21 GAA.
Head Coach Joe Martin knows that the Wenatchee Wild are always a tough team to play against.
“I think they’ve been playing some of their best hockey in a small sample size over the last little while, and we have something to prove against them after our last loss.”
The Cents will look to prove that they belong at the top of the Interior Division standings tonight.
For fans interested in getting another chance at the limited edition Centennials Cancer Awareness jersey they can do so by pledging a minimum of $10 towards their favourite Centennials in the Movember waxing challenge. Either find Melanie at Mellah Leuca during the week, or at any home game during November.
Puck drop 7;m. Pre-Game 6:45 on Hockey TV or q101.ca with Jared Thomas.
