GAME DAY: Merritt Centennials – (8-10-1-1) at West Kelowna Warriors (11-6-2-0)

Merritt Centennials – (8-10-1-1)

Merritt is coming off an emotional gritty 4-3 victory over the Prince George Spruce Kings. The Cents look to win three out of four tonight, their third straight win against West Kelowna and their second straight win in West Kelowna. While the team lost Ryan Spinale, other players have stepped into that role to fill the gap offensively. Merritt is on a win loss win loss kind of pace. While a win against Prince George helped extend the gap, the teams below them are catching up and Merritt is falling behind the teams ahead of them in the Interior. 

West Kelowna Warriors (11-6-2-0)

The Warriors seem to play up or down to their competition. With losses to the 6th place Centennials, 7th place Cranbrook Bucks and 8th place Prince George over their last games this is a team that doesn’t take advantage of teams below them in the standings. West Kelowna is coming off a thrilling 3-2 shootout win at home against the always stingy Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Much like last game against Merritt the shots on net were all over the place from period to period.

Previous Meetings;

The Centennials lead the season series 2-1 and all games have been high scoring. A 6-4 win for West K in Merritt followed by a 6-4 win for the Cents at home. Most recently the Centennials prevailed 4-3 in West Kelowna, a game that saw them blow a 2-0 lead then come back down 3-2 with 8 minutes left. 

Merritt will have to close the game out better as they relied on Beau Lane heavily getting outshot 33-16 in the final two periods of play. 

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents –        PP     14/58 (24.1%) (7th)           PK 14/77 (81.82%) (9th)

Warriors–   PP        11/57 (19.3%) (10th)           PK 14/71 (80.28%) (8th)

Players to Watch;

Dylan Lariviere has been a scoring machine lately. This is a player feeling it offensively. With Ryan Spinale moving on, 18 year old Dylan Lariviere is looking to make an impact and possibly turn some heads around the hockey world as he shines with the Centennials. Jaxson Murray continues to shine since returning to the Centennials as well. He’s very fun to watch out there with his smarts, skill and speed and has point per game. He’s also helped the powerplay significantly.  

Felix Caron is red hot for the Warriors. He leads the team with 13 goals and 23 points in 19 games. Caron had 2 goals and an assist in the last meeting between both teams, he has 3 goals and 5 points in 3 games and before a two game pointless streak had a scorching 7 goals in 5 games including a hat-trick. Look for him to be deadly out there offensively for the West Kelowna Warriors.

Keys to Victory:

Key number 1 – Special Teams mastery. Brian Passmore has gotten control of his team’s parade to the penalty box as they no longer lead the BCHL sitting in 8th in the league for times shorthanded. Their PP has also improved to 7th in the BCHL. The Centennials are playing smarter hockey. 

Key Number 2 – Control of the game. You absolutely cannot outshoot the opposition 14-11 in the first period and then get peppered 33-16 in the final two periods of play and expect to claw out a win. Control the puck, stop trying fancy plays and maintain possession and you won’t give up 40 plus shots. Right now the Cents are averaging 37 shots a night, if they want to be an elite team they will have to drop that number.

Key number 3 – Road Warriors. After losing their first two road games the Centennials are 4-3-1-0 on the road. That is a very respectable number. Continue that business-like approach and they will have success. If they can get an early road game again they might get into the heads of the opposition who would be mighty frustrated to drop a third straight to the Centennials. 

This time, expect the West Kelowna Warriors to not underestimate the Merritt Centennials so expect them to come out hard.