Merritt leads the series 1-0
After last night's thriller, you can only wonder what fans should expect for an encore in game 2. Not only did the Centennials win, and do so impressively in game 1, but the two teams delivered an entertaining style of game that no fan can resist; a style though that might have had the respective coaches pulling their hair out. The game would get top marks for entertainment value, and so you can't help but wonder if there will be a bit of a let-down in game 2.
Despite the score yesterday being 4-1, and the Centennials being full marks for the victory, it's worth noting that the difference in the game was still fairly slight. The shots were almost dead even (36-33), and the difference on the scoreboard came from 3 stoppable shots from the blueline; 2 from Brandon Pfeil and 1 from Billy Marshall. Now that's not to take away credit from them, especially Pfeil who is a wizard when it comes to aiming his shots, but I'm sure if you ask Spruce Kings netminder Ty Swabb, he'll say he should have had all 3 of them. He was flawless for the first half of the game (as he was in the last meeting on Dec 9) before getting burned for 4 goals in the 2nd half of the game, but he still made plenty of impressive saves to warrant some recognition from the Cents players and their fans. Swabb gets a chance to rebound tonight, and the his last rebound was last weekend, where, after losing 8-5 to Penticton on Friday, he came back Saturday and beat them 5-2 to snap the Vees 42 game win streak. So expect Swabb to have a more complete game tonight and for the score to be a lot closer, quite possibly a 1 goal game.
On the flip side, last night was a big game for Chimienti, who looked unflappable for most of the night, and got a little redemption from last year's playoffs, where he and Tyler Steel really struggled in the first round vs Salmon Arm (Lino had a 5.22 GAA and .824 SV%). It's a promising start for what will hopefully be Lino's hottest stretch of the season here in the playoffs.
Now last night was a demolition derby on the ice, but despite plenty of crushing hits and 2 fights, everybody bounced back up, as the lineup doesn't change for either side tonight. That means Brendan Lamont, who missed much of the 3rd period after a hard open ice hit from Esau, will return to the 4th line once again tonight.
The game yesterday was also proof that the regular season doesn't really mean much, and as the cliche goes, the playoffs really ARE a whole new season. That's because, unlike in the season series, the Centennials were able to very effectively shut down the Spruce Kings top gunners, specifically Paul De Jersey, who had points in every game in the regular season vs Merritt, 14 total over 7 games. Merritt also looked like the stronger team on the power play finishing, 1 for 4 and blanking the Spruce Kings on their 6 power plays. This after the Spruce Kings entered the playoffs red-hot with the man-advantage and Merritt coming in ice cold. All in all, Merritt was able to frustrated the Kings in all aspects of the game, and it showed on the Prince George bench with their body language and on their reaction, or lack thereof, on the ice. The key tonight for Merritt will be to simply rinse and repeat.
The 1st playoff win for Merritt in 5 years has the town in a frenzy and has the team feeling good right now, which makes today's game equally as big as yesterday. It will be a chance for Merritt to take a 2-0 stranglehold of the series going back to Prince George, or it will see them lose the momentum they gained last night and give up home ice advantage. And home ice is crucial in this series. Including overtime losses, both teams won 19 games at home and lost 11, and for Prince George, they can't really play their free-flowing offensive game until they get back into the bigger confines of the Prince George Coliseum. So tonight will be another crucial momentum game to determine the mental state/confidence level of both these teams as they travel back north.
The final thing I wanted to touch on was the atmosphere from last night and into tonight. It was the biggest crowd of the season, 950 strong, and they were definitely making noise (though they could still be louder I think), but I thought the show of "towel power", or lack thereof, was very disappointing. The organization made a strong effort to find sponsors to pay for these towels, one thousand in total, and I expected a lot of enthusiasm for their efforts, because "towel power" is not an easy thing to organize at the Junior A level, and I don't know any other team in the BCHL who does this. I was hoping the fans would embrace it and wave their towels at every opportunity, especially for Merritt goals. And while there was certainly an enthusiastic chunk of the crowd that did this, when only about 100 out of 950 fans are making that effort, it doesn't look very good, and almost makes the towels seem meaningless.
Tonight, Prince George is getting at least one fan bus into our building, who are expected to take up a big section of the seating area. These are hardcore fans that made the long trip and paid a lot of money to come here, so they will definitely be very loud, meaning that Cents fans will need to make a conscious effort to outcheer them. And hopefully, if you have a towel in your hand, you're going to wave it with enthusiasm and not be shy and reserved about it. It's all for the fans anyways, and your efforts in the stands will be mutually beneficial for you and team. I know there are plenty of media and scouts in attendance, and a few seniors, but just imagine how cool it would look if even 700-800 of the 950 fans in attendance last night were waving their towels? It would make for a great picture. NOW LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Opening face-off is 7:30pm at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena. Pre-game show starts at 7pm on Q101FM in Merritt. You can also tune in online at Q101.ca or on the BCHL fanzone through BCHL.ca
Here are the lineups for tonight's game 2 for both teams. Merritt's stays identical, but Prince George is tinkering a bit with their top 2 lines looking to find the chemistry they didn't have last night:
MERRITT:
Regan Soquila (93) Chad Brears (91) Evan Stack (9)
Silvan Harper (92) Brent Fletcher (92) Jakob Reichert (93)
Carter Shinkaruk (91) Brandon Bruce (93) Sean Maktaak (92)
Payton Schaefer (93) Brayden Low (94) Brendan Lamont (94)
Reece Willcox (94) Brandon Pfeil (92)
Richard Sabourin (92) Dylan Chanter (95)
Billy Marshall (91) Ross Mancuso (92)
Lino Chimienti (91)
Tyler Steel (93)
SCRATCHES
Tyler Martin (93)
Scotty Patterson AP (93)
PRINCE GEORGE:
Jarryd Ten Vaanholt (91) Zack Rassell (92) Paul De Jersey (92)
Jujhar Khaira (94) Michael Colantone (91) Michael Betz (92)
Leo Fitzgerald (93) Gerry Fitzgerald (93) Myles Fitzgerald (93)
Sean Landrey (93) Tyson Witala (93) Patrick Chore (93)
Ben Woodley (91) Ben Mathews (91)
Trevor Esau (92) Chase Golightly (92)
Skylar Pacheco (94) Latrell Charleson (95)
Ty Swabb (92)
Kirk Thompson (92)
SCRATCHES
Cody Bardock (93)
Marcus Beesley AP -goalie (92)
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