Red hot Matt Perron shines in 100 Mile House: Cents split weekend action
Photo Credit: KIJHL
Jan 28, 2025 | 4:00 PM
Roger White
Another stellar goaltending performance from Mathis Perron who made 23 saves to backstop the Merritt Centennials to a 4-1 win over the 100 Mile House Wranglers on Saturday night in KIJHL action.
The win came on the heels of a disappointing 2-0 loss to Creston Valley on Friday night at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (NVMA) as Thunder Cat goaltender Brendan Smith stopped all 30-shots he faced for the shutout.
“We had a really good first ten minutes of that game,” said head coach Wes McLeod.” Unfortunately we got away from our game plan in the second and third periods and we couldn’t adjust once the Cats got the lead.”
That was not the case on Saturday night as newcomer Grady Sluggett had a goal and two assist to lead the Cents to the win on Saturday night.
“It was a good bounce back game, “McLeod noted. “We had good tempo to our game and got some big stops from Mattie (Perron) to secure the two points.”
To say Matt Perron was on a roll would be a bit of an understatement, especially if you look at his statistics since mid-October.
Perron struggled in the early part of the season with a 0-3 record in his first four games however hard work and keeping it simple helped him refine his game and since October 25, he has won twelve of his last 13-games including his last eight games and has cut his goals against average from 4.19 on Oct 25 to a very good 2.85 and a save percentage of 9.11.
“I have to give my teammates most of the credit for the support I’m getting,”Perron explained. “Our D (defensemen) block a tonne of shots and the guys have done a great job of clearing the front of the net so I can see what’s happening in front of me.”
Cents coach McLeod is elated with Perron’s recent success and says no one deserves it more.
“Mattie has earned the respect of everyone in that locker room,” McLeod added. “I’m not sure if anyone has worked harder both on and off the ice to improve this year than he has and it gives a great goaltending tandem heading into the playoffs.”
The Centennials have clinched a playoff spot in the Bill Ohlhausen Division and are currently tied with Sicamous for third place in the division with 46 points however the Eagles have played one more game than Merritt.
The Centennials will look to keep pace with the Eagles Wednesday night when they travel to the Sun Bowl Arena in Osoyoos to face the Coyotes. The Cents are 2-2 against Osoyoos this season and with the exception of Merritt’s 9-2 thrashing of the Coyotes on News Year’s Eve Day, the other three contest have been one-goal games.
In total, Merritt plays three games in four nights including at home on Friday night when they host the Williams Lake Mustangs, then Saturday night, Merritt travels to the McArthur Park Arena for a match-up with the Kamloops Storm.
Both games are slated for 7 p.m. and can be heard on Q101 with the Super Save Gas Cents pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.
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