Cents Game Day – Merritt at Salmon Arm – Jan 26/22

Date – Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Game Time – Puck drop 7:00 pm

Location – Shaw Centre, Salmon Arm B.C.

Broadcast – Q101 & BCHLTV

Salmon Arm Silverbacks – 24-4-2-0

Merritt Centennials – 2-27-1-1

The Merritt Centennials are playing a rare midweek back-to-back with the Cents on the road for a Wednesday night matchup versus the Salmon Arm Silverbacks.

Former Centennial and Merritt local Talon Zakall made his return to the NVMA on Tuesday night for the first time in his BCHL career as the visitor with the Vernon Vipers.

The Vipers would strike first with a shot from Anthony Cliche through a screen from the point found its way past John Hicks.

Later in the period a solid shift that included multiple holds at the blueline and won battles in deep, the puck would find its way to Ryan Mulrenin backdoor to tie the game. Assists on the play to Levi Carter and Connor Farren.

Hicks would stop 22/23 in the opening period.

Merritt would get their first lead of the contest in the middle stanza as a shot from Anton Sorensen would deflect off a Vernon player in front and beat Ethan David, 2-1 Cents.

Merritt would be able to hold off the Vipers the rest of the way in the frame, including a 4-on-3 powerplay chance. Hicks continued to star in net stopping 39/40 through 40 minutes.

Vernon would strike quickly in the third to retake the lead with Luke Buss and Ayden Third scoring just 17 seconds apart to make it 3-1.

The Cents wouldn’t crumble at the pressure and on a late powerplay Mulrenin netted his second of the night to level it 3-3.

Overtime would solve nothing and in the shootout, Vernon would score twice to win 4-3.

The Salmon Arm Silverbacks haven’t played since defeating the Merritt Centennials in a chippy affair on Saturday. In that contest, the Cents held a 3-2 lead in the third period before the Backs strutted their offensive muscle and took the contest 6-3. Despite the bigger score, the game was incredibly close for 50 minutes.

Simon Tassy continues to lead to Backs and the BCHL with 52 (27G, 25A) points.

Previous meetings;

The Cents and Backs have now played each other four times this season. Salmon Arm has won all four contests but the three held at the NVMA have been extremely close for a majority of them. The lone game played at the Shaw Centre was a little bit more lopsided with the Silverbacks winning 7-2.

Blue Paint Battle;

The goaltending situation in Merritt has been fluid with Jackson Baker getting pulled in three straight games. Baker is 0-4 with a .770 SV% and a 11.66 GAA.

John Hicks has returned from injury and is now 0-5-1 with a .887 SV% and a 5.03 GAA.

Payton Trzaska has also now appeared in a pair of games in relief and is 0-0 with a .902 SV% and a 5.86 GAA.

Owen Say has recieved the lions share of the starts for Salmon Arm, posting an impressive 17-3-2 record with a .917 SV% and 2.38 GAA. Liam Vanderkooi got the start versus Merritt on Saturday and is now 7-1 with a .928 SV% and a 2.13 GAA.

Special Teams Comparison;

‘Backs – PP 30.6% (2/18) PK 85.0% (1/18)

Cents – PP 11.0% (18/18) PK 66.9% (18/18)