The Merritt Centennials will be glad to see another opponent on the other side tonight when they take on the Chilliwack Chiefs.
The Centennials will be trying to move past an ugly 11-2 defeat at the hands of the Spruce Kings last night as the ghost of Christian Buono haunted his former club, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist. Andrew Seaman had the same output and 5 other scorers tallied for Prince George in the lopsided loss. The lone bright spots for the Centennials were a 2 point night from Jake McLean and a breakaway goal from Talon Zakall. Colton Phillips-Watts made his first start of his BCHL career and while he played admirably in the first period and defensive breakdowns led to the games first 3 goals, the Spruce Kings were able to score 3 goals in a minute and a half in the 2nd period and that really lead to the rout in Chilliwack. After 1 period the game was close at 2-1 and the Cents had a two man advantage to start the 2nd, but much like in the game previous they couldn’t convert, couldn’t get the tying goal, and things quickly went downhill thereafter.
Chilliwack is coming into their 3rd game of pod action and is perfect so far in their home pod. They picked up a 5-2 win over the Cents in game 1 after bus trouble delayed the opening puck drop by 3 hours. The Cents can chalk that up to bad luck and can’t really fault themselves for the result last Friday. Along with the 5-2 victory, Chilliwack also picked up a 4-1 victory over Prince George last Saturday. Chilliwack has a deep roster filled with some super star talent and the Cents will have to be wary of them on the rush and on the powerplay.
The first period will be a big factor in tonight’s game as well as the Centennials penalty kill, and more importantly staying out of the box. The Cents have only mustered 5,5 and 6 shots in the first periods so far and need to get more chances early in games to avoid embarrassments late. We will see if the Cents can come out flying and leave the last game in the rear view.
The Centennials are led by Jake McLean and Jerzy Orchard up front with 3 points a piece. Talon Zakall and Walker Erickson have 2 points and the Cents have 7 others that have chipped in with a point.
The Chiefs are led by Ethan Bowen with 4 points, Ray Fust, Connor Millburn and Kyle Penney have 3, while 4 others skaters have produced at least a pair of points.
Special teams sees the Chiefs with the edge in both categories after the Cents stats took a dive after game 3 of the pod.
Powerplay: Penalty Kill:
MER – 14.3% (13th) MER – 70% (12th)
CHK – 18.2% (11th) CHK – 81.8% (6th)
The battle in net sees the Centennials in a bit of a dilemma of where to turn to next. Colton Phillips-Watts made the start but had to be pulled after a period and 5 minutes of work. Josh Dias had to come in cold in relief and get shelled after his team played half heartedly around him. PW is 0-1 with a .688 SV% and a 12.10 GAA which was partially ballooned since he was yanked early. Josh Dias is now 0-2 with a 5.10 GAA and a .835 SV%. It may be time to turn to goalie number 3 Brayden Melnyk and see what he can do in his home town of Chilliwack.
Mathieu Caron has made both starts for the Chiefs he is 2-0 with a sparkling .940 SV% and a 1.50 GAA. Jakob Gullmes is waiting in the wings should Caron falter or if he needs a night off.
Head Coach Derek Sweet Coulter refrained from making comment after last night.
The Cents are hoping they can comment on their first win of pod season after tonight.
Puck drop 5PM. Pre-Game 4:45 on BCHLTV.ca and Q101.ca with Jared Thomas and Michael Reeve.
