Centennials send Clippers packing with Coal in their Stockings

MERRITT — In what many expected to be a high scoring barn burner at the NVMA, the Centennials clamped down the Clippers in a tightly contested 3-2 victory.

After spoiling the Alberni Valley Bulldog’s teddy bear toss game by the tune of 4-1, the Cents took down Nanaimo for their second straight victory heading into the Holiday break on a good note.

The Cents are now 4-1-2 against the Coastal Conference, beating three out of the top four teams in the Coastal by scores of 6-2, 4-1 and 3-2. Never surrendering more than two goals and outscoring the opposition 13-5 along that span.

The first period was highly competitive with the Clippers outshooting Merritt 14-9.

The Centennials got the only goals however as Michael Felsing outwaited goaltender Tyler Hodges to pot his 9th goal of the season at the 4:45 mark.

Larochelle would add to the lead at the 13:46 mark with a PP marker as the lowest ranked PK in the league was burnt again. CT Larochelle is starting to catch fire of late getting his 4th goal and 6th point in 6 games. Ranvir Gill-Shane and All-Star Keirnan Poulin would notch assists on the goal.

The second period saw the Clippers completely dominate the play with a 13-6 shot advantage and a goal for their efforts. Mike Murtagh would score his first of two goals on the night to send the visitors to the break down by just one goal, at this point Andrew Ballantyne was keeping his team in it with 26 saves on 27 shots so far.

In the third Nanaimo forgot to take their christmas slippers off as they came out “sipping egg nog.”

Completely unprepared and unaware the Clippers let All-Star Michael Felsing slip in for his second goal of the game and 2nd of the night to make it 3-1 Cents just 20 seconds into the final frame. To Head Coach Brian Passmore’s frustration the Cents would have a mental lapse of their own letting the Clippers score just 1:35 later as Murthagh got his second of the night.

While Clippers pressed all night peppering Ballantyne with shots, he was able to stand tall stopping 38 of 40 saves. All this after he was named an honorable mention in the BCHL’s players of the week. Ballantyne has a save percentage of .921 or better in five straight starts now as he continues to get starts after a rocky start to the season.

The final buzzer went and the Cents finished off the 3-2 win in front of the home side,

They will look to continue that dominance when they return from break with a tough test in Surrey. The Eagles came out “allergic to losing” to start the season 16-0-0-0 but have since gone 3-4-2 losing to teams like Cranbrook and Prince George along the way, it seems even the bottom teams in the Interior give Surrey all sorts of trouble which bodes well for Merritt.

Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. Friday, December 29th at South Surrey Arena.