- As I predicted before the game, this was probably the toughest game the Centennials have had to play in a while... perhaps, uncoincidentally, since their last loss, a 6-5 overtime defeat at the hands of the same Warriors back on Dec. 29
- Both teams came to play in this one, as the Centennials maintained their work ethic, and the Warriors played like a team that still had faith a playoff spot was within reach
- The Cents and Warriors traded plenty of chances in the opening 20 minutes, a period with plenty of flow to it despite no scoring. Both goaltenders (Tyler Steel and Dwayne Rodrigue) looked extremely sharp, and even though Rodrigue faced almost twice as many shots as Steel (15-8), I thought the period was quite evenly played. The difference was that every time Merritt was in the offensive zone, they would usually come out with shots, whereas the Warriors were sometimes thwarted by blocked shots or broken up plays (credit to Merritt there). The key for Merritt was Steel's shorthanded breakaway save on Max French (who had 12 goals in 15 games since coming back from injury, including 2 in the last game vs Merritt), allowing Merritt to open the scoring for the 7th straight game (not a coincidence that they won 7 in a row)
- Merritt would open the scoring early in the 2nd period. After struggling on their first 2 power plays, the usual suspects would break through... Regan Soquila threw the puck towards the net from the right halfboards, and it took a fortuitous bounce onto the stick of the waiting Brears at the bottom of the left circle. Chad buried the puck high blocker on Rodrigue, who couldn't come across fast enough. But unlike in the other games this past weekend, the 1st goal did not lead to the other teams unraveling
- The Warriors fought extremely hard in the 2nd period, and prevented the Centennials from taking control of the game, which they could of. Merritt had a 4-1 power play advantage in the 2nd period, but after Brears' goal, they struggled mightily to set up or generate many scoring chances. The Warriors were very aggressive on the puck, and the likes of Hascarl, Blanleil and French were outstanding killing penalty after penalty, and even generating chances shorthanded. All in all, the Warriors were full credit for escaping the 2nd giving up just the 1 goal, and having the shots evened up at 9. What could have been a formality of a 3rd period wound up being a war
- The Centennials started the 3rd period on a power play as well, as Seb Lloyd took a charging penalty at the 20 minute mark of the 2nd. It was another great chance for Merritt to get some insurance, but again they struggled with the man advantage (again credit to the Warriors). This left the door open for Westside, but even though they got the next 2 power plays, Merritt's penalty kill was equally as good, and Tyler Steel was, not surprisingly, their best penalty killer (which helps when he took one of the penalties himself for tripping). But surprisingly, despite all the power plays both ways, it was a time when power plays overlapped and the teams went 4 on 4 that the Warriors finally found a way to solve Tyler Steel... a nice rush led by Hochhausen led to a centering pass from him at the right point, and defenseman Bet Betker, of all people, with just his 4th goal of the season, was able to tip it past Tyler Steel on top of the crease, to tie the game for the Warriors. Tyler clearly showed his anger and frustration in giving up the goal (even though I don't think there was anything more he could have done), but he channeled that frustrating the right way, and was able to shut the door the rest of the way
- Finally, on their 9th power play, with the game almost given away due to a struggling power play, the Cents managed to break through once more. Regan Soquila took an innocent looking, but hard snap shot from the top of the right circle, it was blockered aside by Rodrigue, but the juicy rebound came to Chad Brears at the side of the goal, and under pressure, he was able to golf at the puck on the backhand, and chip it just over the blocker of Rodrigue and across the goal line from a terrible angle. Once again, Merritt "found" a way, and this goal with 8 minutes left wound up being the game winner
- Ironically enough, after seemingly struggling on the power play for most of the night, the Cents still wound up a very respectable 2 for 9 on the man advantage (scored on the PP in 4 straight now), and improved on their 20% mark. At the same time, they went 5 for 5 on the PK (perfect through the 4 game home stand) and have now killed off 55 of 60 over the last 17 games, for an astounding 91.7% penalty kill percentage. They have not given up more than 1 power play goal on any given game during this stretch. Hard to believe considering how badly they got burned on the PK earlier this season, giving up multiple PP goals on many nights. It's been a complete 180 degree turnaround in many aspects of their game
- The one main difference on this night from the other wins during this stretch is that it was entirely 1 line who got the job done. Both goals were Brears (who now overtakes Stack for the team lead in goals at 19) from Soquila and Stack. Even though the other lines battled hard (for instance, Payton Schaefer had an outstanding penalty kill shift in the 3rd, they were not overly noticable offensively, and most of the chances seemed to come either from the top line trio or the defensemen who had a few good looks. Now considering this was the first game in a while where all 4 lines didn't contribute evenly, I'm sure it won't be much of a concern, but at the same time I know coach Luke Pierce will want to once again see all his lines going and contributing come the Island road trip this weekend
Westside @ Merritt Jan 18 Highlights by agreb21
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