GAME DAY: Trail Smoke Eaters (20-14-6-0) at Merritt Centennials (14-22-3-1)

Trail Smoke Eaters – (20-14-6-0)

Two games in Trail two wins as the Smokies continued their home ice dominance. Now the Smokies are back on the road where they are not the same team. Trail does do a lot better however in the first game on the road so perhaps they will be a lot more competitive than the last time they visited the NVMA. The Smokies are coming off back to back wins and are on a mission to catch Vernon for home ice. Trail all of a sudden is only six points back of Salmon Arm for third place as well, so you never know what can happen with 15 games left.

Merritt Centennials – (14-22-3-1) 

The Centennials are struggling. 13 losses in 20 games as what was a strong start to the season has turned into a miserable stretch of hockey for the Cents. That being said Merritt is much better at home than they are on the road, where the Cents have dropped 9 of their last 10 games away from the NVMA. At home the Cents are .500 and have scored a lot more goals than they have on the road averaging just under 4 goals per game in their last 11 games at the NVMA. The Cents are looking to snap a 3 game losing streak and get back in the win column before tomorrow’s season finale in Trail.

Previous Meetings;

It’s been home dominance for both teams going 2-0 at home in the series. Trail has 4-2 and 5-3 home wins while the Cents have 5-4 and 5-1 home wins. The Cents have also had a three goal lead in both games at the NVMA. If the big ice here in Merritt continues to be a difference maker for the Cents the 3 game losing streak will be history. It would be huge for the team to sweep the final two games of the season series, win the series and get back in the race for sixth place in the Interior with some tough games coming up for the Cranbrook Bucks in their schedule.

Centennials Bench | Connor Logan

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents PP: 20.9% 28/134 (12th)     PK: 79.5% 30/146 (7th)

Smokies  PP: 20.4%  29/142 (13th) PK: 74.6% 32/12 (14th)

Players to Watch:

The Centennials are getting cold streaks across the board during their three game losing streak. There still are some bright spots however. 

Andrew Ballantyne has had four A plus games in a row and only two wins to show for it. We’ll see if Felsing and Murray get split up as Passmore looks to shake things up and get a different result from his forwards. Dylan Lariviere ended a lengthy scoring drought in Cranbrook last game so let’s see if that gets him going and he had quite a goal streak last time he ended his last cold streak. 

For the Smoke Eaters it remains Mathieu Cobbeto-Roy as he was named one of the BCHL’s Players of the Week after lighting up the score sheet against the Cents and West Kelowna Warriors in 5-3 and 6-4 home wins. The offense is clicking for Trail and he is definitely the catalyst behind the offensive surge.

NVMA | Centennials.ca

Keys to the Game:

Key number 1 – Home Ice Advantage. It is not going the Cents way on the road whatsoever. 9 losses in 10 road games after a somewhat competitive start to the season on the road. The Cents are .500 at home however a much better team. Five of the Cents next seven games are at home so they will have to take advantage of the NVMA if they are to crawl out of the hole they have dug themselves in the Standings.

Key Number 2 – Special Teams. The Cents powerplay has completely plummeted from Top 5 in the BCHL to now 12th in the league. That fall off can be aided by the Smoke Eater’s 14th ranked penalty kill. The Cents didn’t score a single power play goal in three straight games and have to buck that trend and return to the special teams force they were earlier.  

Key number 3 – Shot blocking. It’s been a problem for the Cents all year. You see other teams do it but Merritt has lacked commitment to the defensive side of the game all season long. That’s why Ballantyne and Mezsargs have both faced 38 to 40 plus shots in a night and that can wear down goalies, lead to tip ins, rebounds or even screened shots. Stenberg and Grabner are blocking the shots now the rest of the team needs to get involved in that category.