Cents "Robbed???" in Game 4

STACK PROFUSELY ARGUING MERRIT'S 1ST PERIOD GOAL BEING WAVED OFF  (Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

I have to admit, even a couple hours after wrapping up a 4 and a half hour broadcast, I'm still a little lost and puzzled at what happened in game 4, and at a loss for words. But I'll come up with some for this report. The storyline revolves around 2 goal calls that both went against the Centennials and forced the game into double overtime, where the Vees would find a hero and take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

The big question coming into tonight's game was how would Merritt respond after their great effort in Friday's game 3 wound up short. Well the answer was revealed in the first period, where the Centennials came out firing on all cylinders and looked like they were the ones that finished the regular season 34 points ahead of Penticton, and not vice versa. After a post by Benik just 15 seconds in, the Centennials took over the game and maintained their dominance for much of the opening frame, outshooting the Vees 10-5, and helping Chimienti make an easy transition into the game with just the 5 routine shots that he faced.

Now all the talk will revolve around what "could" have been, had the officiating gone Merritt's way tonight. After some great pressure, the Cents appeared to get on the board when Sabourin's shot from the left point was tipped in front by who everyone (myself included) thought was Evan Stack. However, of the 4 officials, one linesman indicated that it was tipped with a high stick, and he managed to convince the other 3 officials into waving the goal off, and robbing Merritt of an opportunity to take a 1-0 lead for the first time this series. Honestly, it happened way too fast for me to get a good look at it without replay, but after watching the replay online, I've come to the conclusion that it wasn't even Stack who was called for the high stick. Everyone thought so because of how hard he argued and because he was closest to the net, but I don't believe he ever raised his stick at all or got a piece of it. I believe the high stick that was called was on Brears at the top of the left circle. He had his stick a little high (too tough to tell if it was too high) and appeared to duck when the shot from Sabourin came. Frankly, he might not have even touched the puck at all, which is maybe why Merritt was so angry in the first place. And if he did touch it, it's very unlikely that the puck would deflect "up" the way it did and wind up going top corner over Katunar's blocker. That's almost impossible, as the puck would have had to be tipped downwards for it to be a high stick. Nevertheless, the call wound up being costly, as the game stayed scoreless through 20 minutes.

THE ONLY HIGH STICK I SAW FROM STACK WAS DURING HIS CELEBRATION     (Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

In the 2nd period, the game really opened up both ways, and the Vees found a lot of life. They peppered Chimienti with 14 shots and some glorious scoring chances, including a Benik breakaway (after he hit his 2nd post early in the 2nd) and a 2 on 1 with Benik and Gervais.

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

The Centennials had their own chances, particularly a 2 on 1 where Harper found Wilcox with a seemingly wide open net, but Katunar made his biggest save of the series by stretching out with the left pad to keep it out (he was shaky at times again, but ultimately came up clutch for a 2nd straight night).

Finally, we had a goal to talk about, and for the 4th straight game in this series (and 9th time 12 games going back to the regular season), it was the Vees who broke the ice. After Fogarty won a face-off, he cut to the net and got set up by Benik; Fogarty made a nice deke right on top of the crease and was able to squeak a puck off Chimienti across the line to give the Vees a 1-0 lead at the 13:05 mark of the period.

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

The Vees opening goal was obviously a backbreaker, but it looked like it might get even worse when Brent Fletcher took a charging penalty shortly thereafter. However, it was the Centennials who gained momentum from the penalty kill. And it helped to get a goal on the PK. Billy Marshall stole the puck away from Benik deep in his own corner and sprinted up-ice on what turned into a 3 on 1 with Brears and Soquila... Marshall used them both as decoys and snapped a shot high blocker side on Katunar, off the post and in, to tie the game just over 2 minutes after the Vees had opened the scoring.

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

The Cents looked possessed the rest of that PK and even creating scoring chances, and they finished the 2nd period on a tear, taking all the momentum into the 3rd.

In the 3rd period, Lino Chimienti was forced to rise up and shine again, which he did admirably, just like Tyler Steel in game 2. Even though the shots were 13-10 for Penticton, the scoring chances heavily favoured the Vees, and Chimienti was stellar in turning them all aside, particularly 2 saves off of Murphy and Lucia (set up by Murphy) in tight.

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

Even when the 3rd period started, you got the sense that it was overtime already, and next goal would win it. Well thanks to Lino's goaltending, the Centennials got that goal. After a dominant, relentless 4th line shift, Billy Marshall (after holding the line) got a shot on goal from the right point, and Low pounced on the rebound to give Merritt what looked to be the game-winning goal, earning them a 2-1 lead at 13:22 (not 14:22 as the official scoresheet indicated).

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

But... less than a minute later, controversy would strike again. After an inability by Merritt to clear the puck from their zone, Joey Benik (who was the most dangerous Vee all night) skated down to the bottom of the left circle and threw a very innocent-looking shot on net from a sharp angle, which appeared to be stopped by Chimienti and bounce out onto the other side (the belief is that it grazed Chimienti's helmet, went off the crossbar, and bounced out the other side). There was no reaction from either team or the fans, or even the officials. But one of the referees to the corner of the net (Korey Martens) made a very late reaction with Benik's assistance and indicated that it was in fact a goal and pointed to the net.

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

This resulted in jubilation by Benik and the Vees and another furious argument by Cents captain Evan Stack and his teammates that fell on deaf ears. Mind you, there was a long conference between the 4 officials, and they even included the goal judges (which is a rarity) in this argument, but eventually the verdict came back that it was a good goal, and we had ourselves a 2-2 tie. Again, it all happened too quick, and I can't say I have a definitive opinion (without a replay) either way.

A RARE TIME YOU SEE A REFEREE CHECK WITH A GOAL JUDGE      (Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

*As bad luck would have it, Merritt's disallowed goal was only called off by 1 linesman, who convinced the other 3 officials, and this mysterious Benik goal was only spotted by 1 referee, who convinced the other 3 officials. You talk about bad luck! And you talk about injustice!

LUKE PIERCE NOT IMPRESSED WITH THE DECISION ON BENIK'S GOAL    (Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

After the Vees tied it at 2, you could tell the Centennials were angry and deflated, and the Vees kind of kicked it up a notch, coming close to winning the game in regulation. The Cents also had a couple of isolated opportunities, but no real quality chances on Katunar. And so we went to overtime for the first time in this series...

In the 1st overtime session, the shots were quite even at 13-12 Penticton, but the scoring chances were definitely lop-sided in favour of the Vees. The Centennials seemed to be content to shoot from everywhere and hope for a lucky bounce, while the Vees picked their spots and got plenty of quality opportunities that forced Chimienti to play hero again. He made some very tough saves and underrated saves, and battled like crazy to make sure he'd give his team a chance to win at all costs. Mainly because of the play of Chimienti, the 1st overtime solved nothing, and the two teams went to the locker room for another full intermission.

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

The Centennials battled really hard defensively in the first OT, blocking a ton of shots and breaking up other great opportunities. They seemed very desperate defensively, but not as desperate offensively. Overall though, everybody still played on top of their game it seemed, but they couldn't help feeling like they got the raw end of the deal by even being forced to play in this overtime to begin with. It was a tough mental battle to deal with while trying to take care of business on the ice.

The 2nd overtime started with the Vees looking to end it early. They had 2 great chances in the opening half-minute and really pressed the Centennials, seemingly wearing them down. The Centennials were barely hanging on thanks to Chimienti, who made a stupendous save on St. Denis on the door step, stretching out his arms to stop the puck on the goalline, when St. Denis thought his deke to the backhand had gone in and already started celebrating. Moments later, Joey Benik sprung Bryce Gervais on a breakaway, but Chimienti denied him with the left shoulder, once again giving the Centennials an opportunity to score the winner. But the Vees were just more determined, and they kept coming and coming till they broke through.

Finally, after a Vees dump-in from DJ Jones, Brandon Pfeil got stripped off the puck along the left halfboards by the speedy St. Denis, who drove hard directly to the net on the left wing, appeared to get poke-checked trying to deke in front, but while Willcox was fishing for the rebound, Wade Murphy pounced on the puck and slammed it into the net on the opening high glove, with Chimienti down along the ice.

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

(Ian Webster/Merritt Herald)

And so that was that. A devastating conclusion to a 2nd straight epic game, and the Vees, who could have very well been down 3-1 in the series, now take a 3-1 lead back home to Penticton on Monday, where they will look to put the Cents out of their misery in game 5.

*This was the 3rd straight game that Merritt managed to maintain their physicality and discipline at the same time. Minus a charging call to Fletcher (which Merritt wound up scoring on shorthanded), the Cents played very smart, and that's why they gave themselves a chance, by keeping the game 5 on 5. And they finished with only 2 minor penalties, for a total of 5 minors in the last 3 games combined, following 7 minors in game 1

*The top line for Merritt winds up getting held off the scoresheet for a 2nd straight night (though they did score the disallowed one, and Soquila and Brears were on the ice for the Marshall shorthanded goal), but for the 2nd night in a row, they had an inspired game and really led by example. They seemed to be dangerous every time they were out there, yet they just couldn't break through when they were needed most

*You hate to harp on it, but despite the good discipline, the Merritt power play let them down big-time again for a 2nd straight game. They only had 3 power plays, but they were at crucial times. They had an extended 5 on 3 for over a minute in the first with a chance to take the lead, and made some poor decisions with the puck, resulting in only a couple of shots and no real scoring opportunities. They made it too easy on Katunar. And then with the chips on the line, even after the controversial goal that tied it at 2, Merritt got a late power play with just over 5 minutes left (Murphy off for tripping Pfeil), and again couldn't break through, finishing a combined 0 for 6 in games 3 and 4. Remember that in game 3, the Vees killed off Logan Johnston's penalty before Johnston scored the game-winner seconds later. Well tonight, they killed off Murphy's tripping call on Pfeil, and then in double overtime, it was Pfeil getting stripped off the puck by St. Denis, and Murphy, who could have been the scapegoat, playing instead the role of hero

*I have never seen so many broken sticks in one game for a single team as there were tonight for Merritt. Expensive sticks were snapping like dry twigs all night. There were at least 6 broken sticks in total for Merritt (including 2 for Chanter alone), and a couple of times it led to a great scoring chance the other way for Penticton. I don't know what the issue is, but it's an issue the Cents might want to look into heading back to an elimination game in Penticton on Monday

*For the 2nd straight night, Merritt played with over a thousand fans in the building (official number was 1030, meaning 20 less fans than Friday's game 3), and again the atmosphere was very special to be a part of. It was heartbreaking to see such passionate, supportive, loyal fans go home so disappointed, but it says something when Merritt draws back to back 1000+ fans to a game, after failing to reach that mark for the past 11 years. It's great to hopefully see the team make a profit on these playoff games, one that would be well-deserved

Merritt will now need to win 3 straight games vs Penticton, including 2 at the SOEC to keep their season alive. It all starts with the first elimination game Monday night in Penticton for game 5. Another fans bus will be headed there, so you can call marketing manager Rachael Sanders at  250-315-7224 to book your seat.

Here are my 3 stars from tonight's broadcast:

1) Lino Chimienti- 45 saves on 48 shots (they 2nd overtime shots weren't marked)
2) Joey Benik- 1 goal, 1 assist, (2 posts)
3) Billy Marshall- 1 goal, 1 assist

Here are the audio highlights from the heartbreaking double overtime game 4 loss on Saturday:

Penticton @ Merritt Round 2 Game 4 Highlights by agreb21