The Cents put in a heck of an effort for a team playing in back to back nights with limited sleep, but after going punch for punch with the Vees all night, a lack of discipline cost them in the 3rd period and made the difference in a 5-3 loss, snapping Merritt's 6 game points streak, and extending Penticton's win streak to 38
- the 1st period was a tough one for the Cents, obviously struggling to find their groove in a back to back situation. They only had 7 shots and maybe 1 scoring chance all period long, making backup Chad Katunar's night fairly easy to start
- after killing off an early Penticton power play, the Cents got their own, but they struggled to generate much of a set-up for most of the night, and got burned by Steven Fogarty. He made a nifty move from the right wing to dangle out front and throw a backhander on goal, and after Chimienti made the save, it appeared like Benik put in the rebound, but the goal was credited to Fogarty, so it might have bounced off a Merritt skate and in off the original shot. It was the Vees 15th shorthanded goal of the season, opening the scoring less than 4 minutes in and silencing the enthusiastic crowd
- just past the 8 minute mark, the Vees would extend their lead as the Cents got caught up ice, and Penticton broke in on a 4 on 2 rush.... Mario Lucia used his 3 options as decoys, looked off the passing option, and snapped a perfect shot from the left circle over the blocker of Chimienti, knocking off the water bottle and making it 2-0
- the Cents didn't have much of a push-back in the 1st, and failed to challenge Chad Katunar, who appeared to battle the puck and his rebound control all night
- Lino Chimienti gave up 2 goals on 11 first period shots, but he made some real clutch stops to keep it at just a 2 goal hockey game, and he was very clutch all night, giving his team a chance over and over
- just like last night in Trail, the Cents found their legs and found a new gear in the 2nd period, outshooting the Vees 13-9, crashing the crease and making life a lot more difficult for Katunar
- Merritt got on the board just 30 seconds in, when Soquila centered a pass from behind the goal to Brears, and with Katunar down earlier, Brears one-timer a shot from the bottom of the left circle over the left shoulder of Katunar to cut the deficit to 2-1
- just over 2 minutes later, after Brandon Bruce won the draw, Chanter and Pfeil got the puck towards the net, and Bruce banged in the rebound through the legs of Katunar to tie the game at 2, firing up the bench and the large crowd on hand (714 was a great draw for a Thursday night)
- after the teams kept trading penalties (first 4 power plays for both teams were cut off by the other team taking a penalty), in a 4 on 4 situation, Stecher was stopped on a point shot, Depourcq was robbed on the rebound by Chimienti, but the 3rd try by Loik snuck in through Lino's legs on the backhand to give the Vees their lead back at 3-2
- the Cents weren't deterred by this Penticton goal and kept coming hard the rest of the period... suddenly after killing off a late Penticton power play, Billy Marshall rushed the puck from his own zone down the left wing, and blasted a slap shot from the left circle over the blocker, short side on Katunar to tie the game with just 12 seconds left in the 2nd period... it was 3-3 going to the 3rd
- in the 3rd period, the Centennials were able to keep up with the Vees just fine, but they were playing with fire by taking too many penalties, and they finally got burned... already shorthanded, Brent Fletcher threw a vicious hit on Wade Murhpy in open ice in the Merritt zone, drawing lots of blood and keeping Murphy down for quite some time. Fletcher was given 5 minutes for a hit to the head and a game misconduct. As it turned out, this would be the Cents ultimate undoing
- Penticton looked very dangerous on the 5 on 3, but it wasn't a very pretty goal that gave them their lead back. After Lino and the penalty killers stood tall, a face-off win for Penticton paid off, as Mike Reilly blasted a slap shot from the left point that beat Chimienti low to the glove side, re-gaining Penticton's lead at 4-3, and they would never look back
- the Cents did an admirable job killing off the rest of the marathon power play (and were outstanding overall on the night going 6 for 7 on the PK against the league's best power play), but they just didn't generate enough scoring chances the rest of the way
- Chad Katunar settled down a bit in the Vees net, coming up clutch on a couple of saves to maintain the lead, and his team helped him out with very effective time management. Ultimately, the Cents just didn't have enough time, with less than 10 minutes left after killing the marathon power play
- the Cents came close late in the game and pulled Lino for an extra attacker... but as Brayden Low got the puck sideways for Stack off the face-off, Stack tried to feed the line for Marshall, but it was picked off by Joey Benik, and he skated the puck down the ice for an empty net breakaway, making no mistake, and finishing off the game at 5-3 for the Vees
*the Cents finished their season series vs Penticton at 1-5-0-2, getting outscored by the Vees 37-14. But they were much closer in the 2nd half of the season series than the first, and the stats are skewed by 2 off-games, a 6-1 loss and a 9-0 loss. I'm sure the fans left the rink tonight feeling at least a little optimistic about what the Cents might be able to do should they get through to the 2nd round and meet Penticton
My 3 stars from the broadcast were:
1) Curtis Loik - 1G, 1A
2) Mike Reilly - 1G
3) Billy Marshall - 1G
Here are the highlights from the last game of the season series with Penticton that saw Merritt's point streak end at 6 games:
Penticton @ Merritt Mar 1 Highlights by agreb21
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