It was nearly a copy and paste effort from the Merritt Centennials Saturday night, as they once again overcame a 1-0 deficit and got better as the game wore on, scoring 3 unanswered en-route to a 3-1 victory.
To be perfectly blunt, there was a definite drop-off in intensity and excitement from the game on Friday to the 1st period on Saturday. The opening 20 minutes were quite boring to watch, as neither team really tried anything offensively, but rather decided to clear the puck back to center whenever it landed on their stick. This made for a very dull period of hockey with very few scoring chances either way.
Just when it looked like the 1st period would end scoreless, with just 19 seconds left, Zack Rassell cut across the blueline up the middle and snapped a shot on goal that deflected off Chimienti's stick and hopped towards the goalline, just trickling through before Chimienti could dive back to make the save. It could have been a potential backbreaker, but as it turned out, it became a meaningless goal and didn't affect Lino whatsoever.
The 2nd period was a total wake-up call for the Centennials, as they came out with all sorts of urgency, and looked poised to tie the game as soon as possible. It certainly didn't come pretty, but mission accomplished. With Golightly fumbling the puck in his own zone, it rolled towards Ty Swabb slowly, who failed to cover it up... this resulted in a scramble, and Brandon Bruce was able to center the puck for Shinkaruk, who slid it into the open net past a sprawled Swabb to tie the game at 1 less than 3 minutes in.
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
The Centennials kept coming at the Spruce Kings in waves after this, and knocked on the door a few times without breaking through. They also took over the game physically, especially the line of Harper, Fletcher and Reichert, who were overwhelming with plenty of earth-shattering hits, mostly notably a Fletcher hit that stood up De Jersey as he tried to cut to the front of the net, and two back-to-back hits by Reichert on Ben Mathews.
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
Finally, late in the frame, with just under 6 minutes left, Fletcher made a great dish to Soquila at center, who made a nifty tip-pass to Evan Stack, and the Merritt captain split the defensemen and snapped one five-hole through Swabb for what would ultimately be the game winner. The Centennials went into the locker room with a 2-1 lead and all sorts of momentum.
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
*The first penalties of the game came with 2 and a half minutes left in the 2nd period, and they were coincidental. Silvan Harper got an unsportsmanlike conduct for a very effective snow-shower (seen here) on Ty Swabb, and then Esau came in and seemingly elbowed Harper as a retaliation, sending them both off for 2 minutes, but keeping the game 5 on 5
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
the 3rd period was a definite nail-biter, and it saw the first power plays of the game for both teams. Merritt's first power play looked dazed and confused, and didn't manage to set up once, let alone generate a shot on goal. Just seconds after Prince George killed it off, they got their own power play and looked a lot more dangerous. However, a lot of their shots missed the target, Chimienti looked sharp on those that didn't, and the Spruce Kings (particularly De Jersey) really showed their frustration at this time.
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
With the game hanging in the balance, Jarryd Ten Vaanholt took an undisciplined roughing call in front of his own bench with less than 5 minutes left, and the Cents made him pay. Even though the power play didn't look awfully sharp again, all it took was a solo effort by Carter Shinkaruk. Gaining speed from center, he cut into the attacking zone on the left wing and made a nifty toe-drag move to get past a defender, backhanding a shot far side past the glove of Swabb, to give the Centennials the insurance marker they would need.
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
Frustration boiled over even more after this, and Paul De Jersey lost his cool with Schaefer, sending him to the sin bin with just over a minute left, leaving the Centennials to finish off the game on another power play. Out of a sign of respect, the Centennials didn't really push at all on this power play, and instead used it to kill the rest of the clock before pouring off the bench to celebrate another impressive 'team' victory.
*the Centennials goal of copying and pasting Friday's effort into Saturday was successful. They again shut down all the Spruce Kings top players to the point of frustration, they got the better goaltending, were more aggressive, and won the limited special teams battle that took place in the 3rd period
*Lino Chimienti has another 'masterful' performance. He was completely unaffected by the soft goal in the 1st, and displayed great rebound control and overall great positioning. He made many underrated saves look easy because he was always in the right place at the right time
(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)
*for the 2nd straight night, all 4 lines made a difference, and there were no passengers. Up and down the entire lineup, you saw the "will to win" from every player, and the result was quite justified
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