The Merritt Centennials (2-9) get set to X the hex tonight against the Prince George Spruce Kings (8-3-1) as they meet for the 6th time in the pod tonight.
On Friday night, the Cents stormed back after a rough start to come within a goal in a barn burner against the Chiefs in a 6-5 final.
In the first period the Chiefs could do no wrong, and the Centennials were a little too soft defensively. The Chiefs opened the scoring with Tanner Andrew barging up the middle and sniping to make it 1-0. Ethan Bowen potted a pair back to back to make it 3-0, and Liam Tanner got another to make it 4-0 before the Cents came to their senses. Trevor Isaksson would have the answer for the Cents as he fired a wrister from the right point that fooled Gullmes and made it 4-1 before time wound down in period 1.
After a talking to in the dressing room the Centennials came to play in the 2nd. Walker Erickson was able to blow down the right wing after a Chiefs defender blew a tire, and roofed a shot short side on Gullmes to make it 4-2. Trevor Longo would fool Dias with a shot from the point to regain the 3 goal lead at 5-3, but the Cents would answer on the ensuing shift when a behind the battle bounced out front to a wide open Blake Astorino who tallied his first BCHL goal with a blast past Gullmes. Former Cent Jackson Munro would add one on the powerplay to restore the 3 goal lead 6-3 before the end of the frame.
The Cents finally bucked their powerplay slump in the 3rd period due to some great work from Alex Ochitwa and the 2nd unit. Ochitwa repeatedly recollected the puck and fed Brandon Dent for one timers, and 3rd time was lucky as Dent got the Cents within 2 with just 5 minutes gone in the third. Matteo Pecchia scored his team leading 4th to get the Cents within one with 7 minutes to play, but try as they might the Centennials couldn’t get the equalizer for yet another night and would fall just short 6-5.
The Spruce Kings are coming off a 5-2 victory against the battered and bruised Chiefs. PG was able to take advantage of a short handed and gassed Chiefs team in the 2nd night of a back to back and controlled the game from start to finish. They continue to get scoring from their top players, but also a committee of depth offense as well and their goaltending and team defense continues to be amongst the pod and league best. At 22 goals against, the Spruce Kings are 2nd in the league to juts the Penticton Vees. Before this weekend the Chiefs were in 3rd place, and the Cents currently sit in 11th with 50 goals allowed through the pod campaign so far. Their -24 differential is a league 13th.
The good news is the Cents offense has started to step it up in the last few games, and needs to prove they can break through against the structure of the Spruce Kings. A strong start and a full 60 minute effort will go a long way in securing the first victory against PG in the pod. Matteo Pecchia has been a pleasant surprise up front and now leads the team with 8 points. Walker Erickson is starting to turn it on offensively and has 7 along with Jake McLean.
The Spruce Kings continue to be led by Christian Buono who has 15 points and running mate Andrew Seaman has 14 points.
The special teams battle saw the Cents break their powerplay slump, but their penalty kill numbers took a hit despite only taking 2 penalties in the last contest.
Powerplay: Penalty Kill:
MER – 11.3% (15th) MER – 76.8% (10th)
PG – 21.4% (6th) PG – 89.1% (3rd)
In net, Josh Dias will make another start for the Cents as he looks to back stop the boys to their first win over PG. He’s 2-6 with a .881 SV% and a 4.21 GAA. Colton Phillips-Watts is 0-2 with an .830 SV% and a 6.37 GAA.
Prince George has been getting strong goaltending no mater who they put in the blue paint. Aaron Trotter is 4-2 with a .938 SV% and a 1.42 GAA and 2 shutouts. Jordan Fairlie is 3-1 with a .916 SV% and a 2.27 GAA, and Kobe Grant is 1-0 with a shutout under his belt.
Head Coach Derek Sweet-Coulter is hoping a strong start can lead to a strong finish.
The Cents a hoping to finally X the hex against Prince George tonight.
Puck drop 5PM. Pregame 4:45 with Jared Thomas and Michael Reeve on BCHLTV.ca and Q101.ca.
