GAME DAY: Merritt Centennials (20-24-5-1) at Penticton Vees (37-8-3-2)

Merritt Centennials — (20-24-5-1)

The Cents are 6-2-2 in their last ten games playing some pretty good hockey. After ending a two month 6 game losing streak on the road Merritt is now 3-1-1 in their last five road games with two more remaining the regular season. It won’t be easy as the Vees are 20-3 at home and for Sunday’s game the Silverbacks are 18-4-2 in their own building on a four game winning streak. For the Vees, they are coming off a rare home loss, 2-1 to the hands of the Alberni Valley Bulldogs in a rematch of last year’s Fred Page Cup finals.

Penticton Vees — (37-8-3-2)

The Vees look to defend their five year winning streak over the Centennials with the last win coming in February of 2019. For Fred Harbinson’s squad he knows Merritt is inching closer and closer to being more competitive in what was once a fierce rivalry. Despite the home loss Penticton is still 8-1-1-0 in their last 10 games although they only have one regulation win in their last four games, against Merritt on March 9th.

Centennials Bench | Connor Logan

Previous Meetings;

It’s a statement game for Merritt looking to end a losing streak near 30 games as the Cents have gone 0-7 this year against the Vees scoring more than two goals only once, in a game where they got Andrew Ness yanked. The Vees have won 6-0, 6-4, 5-2, 3-2, 2-1, 4-0 and 5-2. They have 5 or more goals in all but two games against Merritt this year and look to go a perfect 8-0 against them tonight. A win for the Cents would be huge to break the streak, shock the BCHL and possibly give them confidence if both teams face off in the playoffs in round two or three.

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents PP:    34/167 (20.36%) (10th) PK: 80.1% (6th)

Vees PP: 51/170 (30%) (1st)           PK: 78.9% (8th)

Players to Watch:

Jack Ziliotto is coming off a three point weekend notching two goals and an assist in two games in Prince George. We’ll see if he stays confident heading into tonight’s game. 

C-T Larochelle has three goals against the Vees this season and always seems to step up to the plate against the tough opponents in the league. We’ll see if he could also be a factor.

For the Vees Connor MacPherson and Max Heise have hat tricks against the Cents and goaltender Will Ingemann has two shutouts against Merritt, both in Merritt. Fred Harbinson elected to pay Sharky Nowek the team’s third string goaltender in last week’s 2-1 loss so we’ll see if he chooses to rest players during this final home stand heading into the playoffs.

Merritt Centennials | Zach Amin Photography

Keys to the Game:

 Key number 1 – Better starts. Despite the Cents picking up points in 8 of their last 10 games the team hasn’t had the starts to games they’ve been looking for. Going down 2-0 early on the road has been the trend and the Cents are going to have to limit shots against in the first as well as their goaltenders have been under siege in some games.

Key Number 2 –  Powerplay mastery. The Cents got two with the extra man last game jumping them into 10th place on the powerplay and will look to stay hot with the extra man. They have been deadly on the road with the extra man scoring at a pace of 25 percent as the bigger ice in other arenas has been an advantage for the Cents.

Key number 3 – Believe in themselves. Despite going 0-7 this hasn’t been a complete blowout of a series like in years past. The Cents have had some tight games against the Vees here in Penticton and Fred Harbinson knows some of the other teams are catching up in the BCHL. The last three games have been one goal games in the third, expect another potential tight matchup tonight.