The Energizer bunny keeps going, and going... and going........ and going. It's officially the longest winning streak of the season for Merritt, who followed up an impressive 3-0 shutout over the Vipers Friday with an equally impressive and even more dominant 5-1 dismantling of the Chilliwack Chiefs on Saturday.
-As if there weren't already enough positive storylines to focus on with the Centennials, they seem to build more each and every game. Tonight, Tyler Martin had his best game as a Centennial, picked up his 1st BCHL goal and a nifty assist... new Centennial Carter Shinkaruk set up the Martin goal for his 2nd point in 2 games with Merritt... Brendan Lamont scored his 2nd goal and 3rd point in 4 games after a 19 game pointless drought... every line scored at least 1 goal (like in the 7-4 win vs Salmon Arm)... Tyler Steel came up with a big game after sitting out the previous 4 for off-ice reasons... the PK went a perfect 5 for 5 and has now killed off 49 of the last 54 opposition power plays (league best 90+% during that span), while the PP has also scored in 2 straight games. Just over a month ago, both the PP and PK were 15th in the league, now they're both 9th. No coincidence the Cents are rolling.
-the Centennials took control of this game early and never really looked back. Tyler Martin got the offense rolling with a nifty pass from just inside the blueline to Brandon Bruce, who re-directed the puck perfectly past the glove of Mitch Gillam. Shortly thereafter, the Cents got a lucky bounce on the PP off the skates of Brayden Low to make it 2-0, and not long after that, Tyler Martin finished off a 2 on 1 off a perfect pass from new Centennial Carter Shinkaruk to make it 3-0. 3 goals in 3 and a half minutes, and the Cents never looked back. That was the end of the night for starter Mitch Gillam, and even though Brydon Udy was better, he was peppered just as much as Gillam was. The Centennials were dominant all period, outshooting the Chiefs 16-6, and Tyler Steel had one big save to highlight his period.
-the 2nd period showed the Chiefs get a little bit of life, and Tyler Steel was a little busier turning aside 10 shots, but Merritt still carried the play and had the better scoring chances. Bryton Udy was quite strong keeping the Chiefs in it, but he made a crucial mistake on a Reece Wilcox dump-in from center that he mishandled, allowing Brendan Lamont to jam in the puck in from the goal line. That 4-0 goal was the ultimate backbreaker that the Chiefs just couldn't recover from. That's how it stayed through 40 mins.
-for the 2nd straight game, the Cents were able to keep their foot on the gas pedal in the 3rd period, and never really gave Chilliwack a chance to mount any sort of comeback. The Chiefs did get a nice tip-in from newcomer Kody Dhaliwal 5 minutes in (set up by the other newcomer, defenseman Anderson White), but that's as close as they would come. I thought Dhaliwal, playing with Bondra, were the most dangerous combo for the Chiefs on the night, but simply couldn't do enough to overcome the areas that Chilliwack was outplayed in. The Cents locked it down, and even answered the Chiefs marker just over a minute later, when Billy Marshall sent Chad Brears up the middle, and Brears fire a wicked shot off the post and in, blocker side to put the game away at 5-1.
-For my money, this was the most dominant PK I've seen from the Centennials all season long. They were extremely aggressive and won battles along the wall all night long. Everybody was willing to sacrifice their body to block shots, and the team did a great job of clearing the crease whenever there was a loose puck in front of Tyler. It was an overall outstanding defensive effort once again, giving up just 23 shots, making Tyler Steel's solid game almost a non-factor, which speaks wonders about the team play in front of him.
-The Chiefs were stifled and frustrated through the game, as Merritt effectively clogged up the neutral zone and often broke up the Chiefs rush before they entered the offensive zone.
-Carter Shinkaruk, to me, looked even more impressive tonight than in his debut Friday where he scored. He seemed more confident and comfortable in his role and made plays happen all over the ice, almost setting up a couple of other goals. He was actually more noticable in this game than the one on Friday, but both were very promising indicators of what could come during the final stretch of the season for the newest Centennial
-It's worth noting that this was literally the "biggest" Cents win of the season. Nothing has come easy for them, and this was the first victory by more than 3 goals (the first 2 were with an empty netter, one against Chilliwack, the last one was a 7-4 win over Salmon Arm without an empty netter)
-Overall, the Centennials were ferocious all night long at both ends of the ice, and definitely showed more hunger and willpower than the Chiefs, even though it's Chilliwack who's in danger of missing the playoffs and entered the night 9 points back of Merritt. They finished the night just 3 points ahead of Vernon for the 4th and final playoff spot with plenty of hockey yet to be played for the Vipers to catch up
-as for Merritt, the win puts them comfortably 10 points up on Prince George (Spruce Kings were the latest victims in Penticton's 23rd straight win, but still hold 1 game in hand on Merritt) and 11 points up on Chilliwack (though the Chiefs still have 3 games in hand)
Here are the audio highlights from Merritt's most dominant win of the season:
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