Deja-vu In Westbank: Rodrigue Stands On His Head, Warriors Extend Merritt's Losing Streak to 5

The storyline remained identical to the night before and the skid as a whole, as the Centennials fired plenty of shots on net but constantly got frustrated with no results:

• the first period saw the Cents come out on fire, seemingly having put the previous night in Vernon behind them, as they looked good in the first half of the period, and got even better as it went on. 

• Before the Warriors even got their first shot (around the 5 minute mark) Chad Brears set up Regan Soquila on a 2 on 1 for a wide open net, but as Soquila fanned on the one-timer and put it wide, it appeared to be the preview of another "one of those nights", which it turned out to be

• Merritt's 1st power play looking extremely dangerous and had multiple prime scoring chances, including a couple more empty net looks for Low and Stack, but somehow Warriors netminder Dwayne Rodrigue found a way to keep them out, and slowly built up Merritt's frustration

• the pace of the 1st period picked up as it went along, and even though it finished scoreless, it was very exciting for the fans at hand, including the enthusiastic crowd on the Cents fan bus

• the 2nd period was a little more evenly matched, and again the pace was very fast. But the storyline remained the same for Merritt, as they were constantly getting stymied on quality opportunities, which they were able to create for themselves all night long (to their credit, they never had an extended lull in this game)

• suddenly, against the flow of play, with Merritt still frustrated offensively, the Warriors had an extended shift in the Merritt zone, and finished it off with a pretty 3-way passing play that Basara capped with a one-timer on top of the crease on a set-up behind the goal from Pope... suddenly the tone of the game changed, as Merritt gave up the 1st goal for the 5th straight game (to coincide with the 5 game skid)

• to the Cents credit, they didn't let up and had a solid bounceback after giving up the goal against... after so much bad luck, they finally got some good luck, as it looked like Reece Wilcox' pass from the left halfboards was intended to go to the corner, but took a fortuitous bounce to Brears in the left circle, who surprised Rodrigue with a quick shot short side over the right shoulder, Merritt's 1st goal in 113 minutes of hockey overall, dating back to their game in Chilliwack

• the equalizer was a huge weight off their shoulders, and the Cents seemed to get a big boost off it, as they pushed the tempo for the remaining 3 minutes and came close to taking their first lead of the entire 5 game losing skid, but were once again thwarted by Rodrigue and the Warriors defense 

• Tyler Steel also settled down in the 2nd period after fighting the puck a bit in the 1st, and he made some big saves that gave his team a chance to break the ice first

• both teams actually made several great plays defensively, backchecking hard, blocking shots, and breaking up passes on the doorstep, so the effort and desperation was clear on both sides

• the 3rd period was much the same as the rest of the game... the Centennials carried most of the play and generated quality scoring chances, but continued to get snake-bit. They seemed to get more and more frustrated by the passing minute, but still held out hope in a 1-1 tie

• the turning point was the Warriors power play, which didn't look all that dangerous, but suddenly broke through with a Monk one-timer from the right point that beat Steel low to the stick side, a shot I'm sure he'd like to have back. You could sense the frustration on the Merritt bench, and this is a setback they weren't able to overcome

• the Warriors went into a very efficient lockdown mode from here as the Cents were unable to generate much of a buzz in the offensive zone, and then a great defensive play by Hochhausen led to a great offensive play at the other end as he got around Mancuso and tucked the puck through Tyler Steel with 2 and a half minutes left for the insurance marker

• the Centennials finished the game looking like a dejected bunch, and Hochhausen just about got his 2nd goal into an empty netter but was hooked by Soquila in the dying seconds to prevent the goal (not quite a breakaway, so it was only a minor penalty instead of an automatic goal awarded)

*It's hard to be critical of a team that outshot the opposition 38-22, but once again the Warriors were more clutch and received better goaltending, though Tyler Steel was by no means bad in this game

*The same issues continue to plague Merritt, which is the inability to score first, or even IN the 1st period at all, they were beat on the special teams again, they lost the battle between the pipes, and they couldn't find the "finish" they need to break out of their offensive funk (4 goals in the 5 game skid, 12 goals in 8 games overall, with 11 of those coming from the first line)

*In a cruel twist of fate, a 7 game winning streak has turned into a 5 game losing streak and 6 losses in 7 games, and literally all the things that made Merritt so successful earlier are contributing to their biggest slump of the season right now

I'm sure it won't be a very enjoyable week off for the coaches or the players, but they'll try again to work out the kinks in practice this week, before heading to Vernon for a rematch with the Vipers on Friday

Here are the highlights from the 3-1 loss in West Kelowna:

Merritt @ Westside Feb 4 Highlights by agreb21