GAME DAY: West Kelowna Warriors (9-3-1-0) at Merritt Centennials (5-7-1-1)

Merritt Centennials – (5-7-1-1)

The Cents need to get home cooking soon, and they need to beat a team above them in the Interior. After winning their home opener 5-3 against Powell River the Cents have lost 4 of 5 games in front of the home side. Not exactly putting on a show for the home side which doesn’t help put butts in the seats. Also since their home opener win the Cents have now lost 9 of their last 13 games and 6 of their last 7. The effort has been there, the results havn’t. Amongst all those losses you’ll rarely find a game Merritt wasn’t right there with the opposing team.   

West Kelowna Warriors (9-3-1-0)

The Warriors didn’t have their best game in Cranbrook. After coming out flying with three straight goals to start the first period they let the Bucks come all the way back, blowing a 3-0 lead. Well… until Jackson Kyrkostas scored the game winner just eight seconds later. West Kelowna has dominated the Centennials in the past; they’ll need a win if they wish to keep pace with the Interior Conference leading Penticton Vees, who the Centennials will host tomorrow. 

Previous Meetings;

In the only meeting between these two teams the Centennials dropped a 6-4 high scoring affair at the NVMA. Ballantyne was in net and Kyrkostas scorched him and the Centennials for three goals that game. The Cents did not show up for the first period, waiting until the 15 minute mark of the first just to get their first shot on net. 

West Kelowna is 18-3-1-0 against Merritt over the past five seasons and only lost one game to the Cents last season (In West Kelowna.) Can Merritt beat the Warriors at the NVMA for the first time in four years? 

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents – 9/47 (19.15%) (11th) PK 10/57 (82.46%) (3rd)

Warriors–       7/39 (17.95%) (13th) PK 10/50 (80%) (7th)

Players to Watch;

Michael Stenberg has goals in back-to-back games so he’ll be feeling confident heading into this one. Dylan Wegner is a point per game player with the Centennials and has probably been one of the more consistent players from game to game. Those two played on a line together last game and looked to have a bit of chemistry. 

Jackson Kyrkostas scorched the Centennials for four goals in his last visit to Merritt. He is also coming off a game in which he scored the game winning goal 8 seconds after the Bucks erased a 3-0 deficit, with the crowd still on their feet. You could call a goal like that a “silencer.” Felix Caron also has 6 goals in 4 games so look for his to light the lamp.

Keys to Victory:

Key number 1 – Play a full sixty. Third periods have not been the Cents area of strength this season. They gave up a 3-1 lead in the third and lost in their last game of the showcase. The next game against Vernon they let a 1-1 tie turn into a 4-1 loss. Whether it’s a conditioning thing or a mental thing playing 30-40 minute games doesn’t work in a sport where 60 minutes are played.

Key Number 2 – Respect your opponent. This team has dominated the Centennials in the past and is still one of the class teams of the BCHL. 

Key number 3 – Cover the front of the net. Against Coquitlam and Vernon the Centennials were consistently letting players break in all alone on the goaltender, even with five men back in their own zone. Man to man coverage needs to improve. They are making it way too easy for teams to score on them and that’s why they sit with the Cowichan Valley Capitals at the bottom when it comes to goals against. 

Tighten it up in the d zone and stop letting players feast in front of your goaltender. 

NVMA