GAME 5 PREVIEW: (3) Salmon Arm Silverbacks vs (6) Merritt Centennials – (Series tied 2-2)

Merritt Centennials — (Series tied 2-2)

The Centennials played desperate hockey Wednesday in a 5-4 win at the NVMA. It was the first win for Merritt at home in the playoffs in 5 years. The Cents are on a magical run right now, still fighting and in the series while already two other teams have been eliminated in the BCHL leaving 14 teams fighting for their lives. While a lot of other series are at 3-1 Merritt has fought hard to bring a 2-2 series tie to the Shaw Centre. No matter what happens tonight one of these two teams will have a chance to eliminate the other tomorrow night at the NVMA.

Salmon Arm Silverbacks —  (Series tied 2-2)

The Silverbacks failed to bring a 3-1 series home and have dropped two of the last three games in the series after a 3-2 overtime win in Game One. They have also given up the first goal in all four games of the series but have definitely been the better 2nd and 3rd period team. Tonight they will look for their home crowd to cheer them on to a 3-2 series lead. They won 20 times and lost just 7 times here in the regular season as they look to continue making life miserable for visiting teams. Can Salmon Arm put the Cents on the brink tomorrow? Or will the Cents have a chance to clinch round two tomorrow at the NVMA? Stay tuned to find out.

Previous Meetings;

The Silverbacks won the season series 3 games to 2. The games in Salmon Arm saw the Backs torch the Cents twice, 7-1 and 7-3 but also lose 3-2 in an eleven round shootout. At the NVMA the teams played twice with the Silverbacks crushing the Cents 5-2 and getting blown out 4-0 themselves. 

In four games in the playoffs the Silverbacks won 3-2 in overtime and then lost 3-2 at home. At the NVMA the Cents lost 4-1 and won 5-4 as Salmon Arm leads this year’s series 6-4.

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents PP:   39/182 (21.4 %) (T8th) PK: 40/195 (79.5 %) (7th)

Backs PP: 34/159 (21.4 %) (T8th) PK: 29/158 (81.6 %) (3rd)

Players to Watch:

For the Cents their top line has carried them so far in this series. Jaxson Murray is coming off a 3 point game, Luke Pfoh and Michael Felsing have been buzzing as well. The Centennials top line has been a factor in three out of four games this series. They picked a really good time to play catch fire and the Cents hope they can be a factor once again again tonight.

For Salmon Arm Cole Cooksey and Maddux Martin have been thorns in Merritt’s side all series long. Eli Pulver is likely going to bounce back from a game where he gave up 5 goals as well. He is very comfortable playing at the Shaw Centre and could be a factor tonight.

Cents Bench | Joey Jones Photography

Keys to the Game:

Key number 1 – Play a full 60 minutes. In all four games of this series Merritt has come out flying, scoring the first goal of the game then let their foot off the gas. Merritt needs stronger finishes.

Key Number 2 – Shore up their play defensively. Offensively and in net these teams are evenly matched the one area where Salmon Arm stands out is on defense. The Cents have done a better job limiting the shots against but have given up 4 goals in back-to-back games in the series. 

Key number 3 – Use your size to your advantage. The Cents outmatch the Silverbacks in this category. We shall see if that ends up being the difference in this series.