The Merritt Centennials came off the heels of their best game in the Pod season, but couldn’t match the effort and intensity as they fell to the Spruce Kings 2-0.
The Cents had a decent effort in the first period as they traded some early chances with Prince George, but it didn’t take long for PG to out pace the Cents. Andrew Seaman opened the scoring after he picked a defenders pocket and broke in alone, he pulled to the backhand and was able to shovel it past Dias to make it 1-0. The Cents did well to keep just one goal behind, but they couldn’t muster much offense before the buzzer sounded. Shots after 1 were 13-7.
In the middle frame the Cents had a tough time getting their legs going and Prince George came in waves. Josh Dias played exceptional to keep the Cents within one, but the team had trouble breaking out of the defensive zone and getting sustained pressure around Trotter. Neither team could solve the netminder in period 2, and shots were 23-12.
Period 3 should have seen the Cents pour it on in an effort to level the score, but it was PG that had the legs and Nick Rheaume was able to capitalize after a shot off the end boards bounced to him and he was able to fire it short side and make it 2-0. Towards the tail end of the game the Cents were able to garner a bit of an attack, but it wasn’t enough to beat Trotter who hung on to secure the shutout. Final shots were 36-20 while both teams went scoreless on the powerplay.
After the game Derek Sweet-Coulter said the team couldn’t find their energy and then they got caught making the wrong plays.
“When the legs stop working, the brain stops working and we weren’t working together.”
The Cents get another chance at redemption tomorrow night against the Chilliwack Chiefs.
