The captain led by example tonight, as Evan Stack broke the game open in the 3rd period and catapulted the Cents to a 4-2 victory over the Chilliwack Chiefs for Merritt's 3rd straight victory, following a 6 game losing slide:
- the 1st period of this game was kind of a weird one to get used to. The Centennials were fine, but fine was a weird adjustment following a 7-1 and 8-0 victory
- the Cents continued their penalty killing prowess tonight, but after they had just killed off an early Chilliwack power play, Spencer Graboski walked across the blueline, up the middle, and snapped a shot from the top of the two circles high blocker side, off the post and crossbar and past Chimienti to make it 1-0 just over 2 minutes into the game
- the Chiefs might have had the better scoring chances in the first period, as they outshot Merritt 11-8, but Merritt had a strong-looking power play, and were able to capitalize on their 2nd one, late in the 1st, as Wilcox set up Pfeil for a one-timer from the top of the point, that beat Chiefs backup Bryton Udy high glove side to tie the game at 1
- just as it looked like the 1st period would wind down tied, the Chiefs won a face-off late in their own zone, got it up to center, and Gould sent a pass into the left circle for Bondra to skate onto, and Bondra fired a perfect wrist shot from the faceoff dot high glove side, again off the post and crossbar in, with just 7 seconds left, to give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes. It looked like a backbreaking goal against the Centennials, but ultimately didn't end up being a factor
- the 2nd period saw the Centennials get back to the dominance we saw for much of Tuesday and Friday's game. They seemed to play with lots of urgency and hunger, creating a great forecheck, lots of effective cycles, and just winning battles to the puck, and loose puck battles all over the ice. They got plenty of scoring chances as well, but Udy was sharp in allowing the Chiefs to preserve the lead, until...
- with under 5 minutes left, in a 4 on 4 situation, Carter Shinkaruk made a nice move 1 on 2 across the line on the right wing, and through traffic, he was able to feather a pass through to Bruce in the left circle who reached to one-time the puck past Udy, low stick side to tie the game at 2
- the 3rd period saw the Cents starts on a power play that carried over from the 2nd period, but not before a lengthy delay of over 5 minutes while everyone on the ice was waiting for the water to dry. It was an unusually warm feeling inside the rink, and that might have contributed to the ice staying "too wet" to start the 3rd period. Both teams went back on the ice and skated around to try and help in the drying process
- after finally getting back underway, the Centennials worked the puck into the offensive zone and set up another dangerous-looking power play... after Brandon Pfeil hit the post, Stack was set up point blank and robbed, but then he got another set-up in the same spot, top of the crease, and this time he found his spot through the legs of Udy to give Merritt their first lead of the game, 3-2
- the Centennials seemed to continue right where they left off after this, looking like the more dominant and desperate team. Then 4 minutes later, on a delayed penalty call, Marshall sprung Stack with a nice pass, and Stack cut into the offensive zone, up the middle, and fired a wicked wrist shot high blocker side past Udy to give the Cents a 4-2 lead, and cap off the scoring
- to Merritt's credit, for the 2nd straight game, with a cushion in the 3rd period, they didn't let up. They continued to push for the next chance and the chance after that, and could have had even more goals, but as it turned out, they wouldn't need any more. Chilliwack was left trying to minimize further damage, as they were forced to constantly clear back to center to relieve pressure, and didn't get many scoring chances of their own
- the game got a little interesting when Silvan Harper threw a vicious hit on the end wall in the Chiefs zone, and I think it was against Thompson, who he scrapped earlier in the period, and that put Chilliwack on the power play with just over 2 minutes left in the game. They would wind up pulling their goaltender for the extra attacker to go 6 on 4, but despite them not allowing the Cents a sniff at the empty net, they also never really came close, as the Cents cruised to the 4-2 victory, their 3rd straight
*after a couple of goals that Lino might want to get another crack at (even though they were 2 perfect shots) in the 1st period, Chimienti really settled down nicely after that, but was helped out a lot by the rest of the team in front of him, who broke up many plays, blocked shots, and most importantly, spent much of the remaining 40 minutes in the offensive zone, allowing Lino to mostly cruise to victory after a busy 1st period
*after a slew of turnovers that would normally cost them in Coquitlam, tonight Merritt made very few mistakes, and seemed to learn from the night before... they limited the turnovers, especially in the defensive zone, and overall, they made Lino Chimienti's night a lot easier than Steel's night was on Friday in Coquitlam
*the defensemen were especially sharp for Merritt today, making great outlet passes, and all of them playing a significant role in shutting down the Chiefs and limiting their shot totals. Richard Sabourin was especially impressive on a strictly defensive angle, as he broke up plays and cleared the puck more than a handful of times on the PK alone. He was very physical, blocked shots, won battles, made smart plays, and simply was rock solid on the back end in every which way. He led by example, and the rest of the dmen pretty much followed suit
*Merritt was perfect on the penalty kill again going 4 for 4, and are now 16 for 16 over the last 4 games. Meanwhile the power player not only broke through finally going 2 for 5 (after an 0 for 8 and 1 for 22 slump coming in), but also looked quite dangerous on all 5 opportunities
*Evan Stack scored 2 goals for the 2nd straight night (to take a 4 goal lead on Brears for the team lead with 27 now), and overall had 8 points in 3 games this week, so watch out for him as a possible BCHL Player of the Week candidate. You also can't look past Brandon Bruce, who was extremely effective and dangerous all night long, and playing the best hockey of his season right now. He scored for the 3rd straight game today, and has 4 goals and 6 points on the week. Though Stack's 4 goals and 8 points probably give him the edge (however the 2nd assist he got today on the 1st Merritt goal should have been awarded to Brears)
*the Centennials finish the season series with Chilliwack 5-2, outscoring the Chiefs 20-13 in the process
*after getting outscored 27-5 in a 6 game losing slide, the Centennials have now come back to outscore their opposition 19-3 in 3 straight victories this week
*despite all the offense, much of it spread, and despite all their hard work, the 4th line of Low, Lamont and Schaefer are the last few guys to be riding pointless droughts and looking for some confidence heading into the playoffs
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| Schaefer nearly sneaks in a wraparound past Udy in the 3rd (courtesy of John O'Connor/Merritt News) |
My 3 stars on the broadcast tonight were:
1) Evan Stack - 2 goals, 1 assist (which could be taken away)
2) Brandon Bruce -1 goal
3) Brandon Pfeil - 1 goal, 1 assist (should have another assist added instead of Sabourin on the Brandon Bruce goal)... Richard Sabourin was my star 3b)
Here are the highlights from Merritt's last meeting with Chilliwack, their 3rd straight victory overall:
Chilliwack @ Merritt Feb 18 Highlights by agreb21
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