The Merritt Centennials gave Josh Dias a rare night off, and Colton Phillips-Watts played admirably in his 2nd pod start, but the offense couldn’t get rolling in a 4-1 loss to the Chilliwack Chiefs.
The first period was as good as any from the Cents as they leveled 10 shots on net, didn’t make any trips to the sin bin and PW was able to shot all 11 shots he faced.
The 2nd frame saw the Cents and Phillips-Watts face a bit of adversity as Liam Tanner and Dawson Good scored in quick succession. To the Cents and PW’s credit they were able to steady the ship and start to fight back. Walker Erickson was able to make good on a rebound off a Jake McLean shot to cut the Chiefs lead in half. The Cents went to the final frame down by one, but tied on the shot clock 25-25.
The Cents were looking to come out of the dressing room blazing to make an impact early and start the comeback trail, but it was the Chiefs who would capitalize early. Anaheim Duck draft pick Ethan Bowen was able to fire a shot that was partially deflected to fool PW to make it 3-1. At the 8 minute mark, Mark Thurston took just the 2nd Cents penalty of the game then, and the Chiefs would capitalize off a Trevor Longo point shot to make it 4-1. The score would hold up as the eventual final. Final shots were 37-33 Chiefs.
Derek Sweet Coulter wasn’t available after the game, but mentioned during the broadcast that the Cents are starting to suffer from the injury bug.
The Cents will hope to finally break the curse of the Spruce Kings next time out on Monday. Puck drop 5PM.
