Cents Burn the Smokies for their 4th Straight Win!

The main key for Merritt tonight was to stay focused on Trail and not look ahead to Penticton. Mission accomplished. The guys came out hungry and kept their foot on the gas pedal for 40 minutes before putting it on cruise control in the 3rd for a 7-2 victory.

• the 1st period was one of the most dominant that Merritt has played this season, and that says a lot for a team that recently went 6 straight and 9 of 10 without scoring a 1st period goal. They piled on 24 shots (a single period record for them this season) and were all over the Smoke-Eaters. And the 10 shots against were not very dangerous

• Merritt started the game in the 1st minute on a 4 minute power play, when Connor Tiechko high-sticked Brandon Bruce and drew blood, causing the double minor. Despite good puck control, the Cents didn't create very many quality chances and got blanked on the 4 minutes, which could have been a potential turning point for Trail, but instead was the start of a feeding frenzy for the Cents

• shortly after the power play had expired, Sean Maktaak opened the scoring 6 minutes into the game off a feed from Shinkaruk... Maktaak fanned on his original shot, but got it back on his stick and snapped a shoft from the left hashmark over the left shoulder of the 5'6 Lyndon Stanwood between the pipes for the Smokies.

• a minute and a half later, the Cents won a loose puck battle (credit to Harper), and he cycled behind the goal for Fletcher, who centered a perfect pass for Reichert to cap off a nifty passing play. Reichert made it 2-0, and the rout was on

• the Cents would get another chance on the power play (as it turned out, it would be their last one on the night) late in the 1st period, and this time they would break through. After controlling a face-off, Brandon Pfeil threw the puck on net from the top of the point, and Brears tipped it in to make it 3-0 through 20 minutes of play

• the 2nd period was equally as dominant for Merritt, even though the shots were closer at 14-9 in favour of the Cents. But they were a constant danger in the offensive zone and skated circles around the Smoke-Eaters, creating chance after chance after chance

• the 4th goal came on a bit of a broken play, as Stack, coming across the blueline on the right wing, tried to feed a pass across to Soquila, but it was partially blocked, landing back on Stack's stick... so he walked into the slot and fired a hard shot on goal that trickled through Stanwood before Brears tapped it into an empty net for his 2nd of the game (and 25th of the season, to get back within 2 of Stack for the team lead in goal scoring)

• a minute and a half later, after Reichert nearly scored on a great chance out front, he centered for Harper who buried his first of two on the night to make the score 5-0

• ...and 2 minutes later, after arguably the most dominant shift of the season for the Centennials (not surprisingly by the top line of Stack, Brears and Soquila), Reece Wilcox was able to finish it off with his 4th of the season to increase the lead to 6-0. Surprisingly, there was never a mercy hook for Lyndon Stanwood, who ended up going down with the sinking ship

• after Chimienti made a fantastic point blank save on Connor Tiechko, minutes later, the Smoke-Eaters broke though... after hitting the post on a shot from the left circle, Poulsen fired a shot on net from the right point that was stopped by Lino, but McMullen jammed it in on a scramble in the crease to spoil Lino's shutout bit with 5 and a half minutes left in the 2nd frame

• undeterred, the Cents came right back and got the goal back just 2 minutes later. Another pretty 3-way passing play, this time from Fletcher to Reichert, back door to Harper for his 2nd of the game to make it 7-1, which is how the period would finish

• Tyler Martin took a double-minor penalty himself for high sticking late in the 2nd, and the Cents were able to kill off a brief 2 man advantage, but the power play carried over for 2:27 into the 3rd period for Trail

• in the 3rd, early stages, the Smoke-Eaters were able to break through with exactly 2 minutes left in the double minor to Martin (which extended their power play for another 2 minutes), as Connor Tiechko (easily the best Smoke-Eater tonight) made a nice move to get past Marshall at center, and with speed across the line, centered a perfect pass for captain Clayton McEwan to cut the lead to 7-2, which would actually be the end of the scoring in this game. This goal also snapped Merritt's 18 for 18 penalty killing streak over 4 games and 2 periods

• the Centennials still outshot Trail in the 3rd 13-6, but I don't think that was reflective of the period. The Smoke-Eaters had a few very good shifts and pinned Merritt in their own zone on a few occasions where the Cents were left to just clear to relieve the pressure. This was the first sign of vulnerability the Cents showed all game, and you have to give credit to Trail for still battling in a game that got out of hand on them

• the Cents had a few chances in the 3rd period, and many of them were by the 4th line of Low, Lamont and Schaefer, who were clearly desperate to score, but just couldn't buy the breaks the other lines could (every other line scored tonight, but it's been 9 games now since anyone on the 4th line has registered a point, dating back to a Jan 22 game where Lamont assisted on a Harper breakaway goal)

*It's easy to overlook Lino Chimienti on this night, but he did exactly what he needed to... stopped everything he should have, made 1 or 2 big saves (had no chance on the 2 goals against him) and let the offense win the game for him

*the 4th line got caught in their own zone a few times, but still easily outplayed Trail's 4th line... they looked dangerous for much of the night, but can't buy any breaks. They're the last "piece to the puzzle" to have a full, well-oiled machine

*the other 3 lines were equally impressive, even though the top line again stood out the most for Merritt, as they seemed to generate quality chances each and every time they were on the ice

*the Centennials also deserve credit for playing a solid defensive game. They did have a few careless turnovers, but for the most part, everyone battled equally at both ends of the ice, and Lino Chimienti was helped numerous times on blocked shots and broken up plays, such as the backcheck stick lift by Carter Shinkaruk on a shorthanded breakaway for Cooper

*after a 6 game losing skid where they scored just 5 goals, the Centennials 4 game win streak has seen them outscore the opposition 26-5

Here are my 3 stars from the broadcast:

1) Chad Brears- 2G, 1A
2) Silvan Harper- 2G, 1A
3) Evan Stack- 2A

Here are the audio highlights from Merritt's 4th straight victory:

Trail @ Merritt Feb 24 Highlights by agreb21