Cents Game Day – Merritt vs Prince George – Feb 5/22

Date – Saturday, February 5, 2022

Game Time – Puck drop 7:00 pm

Location – Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, Merritt B.C.

Broadcast – Q101 & BCHLTV

Prince George Spruce Kings – 20-9-3-5

Merritt Centennials – 2-31-1-1

The Merritt Centennials will wrap up their weekend slate, the same way it started, with a home game versus the Spruce Kings.

It was the Penticton Vees opening the scoring on Friday night at the NVMA. Just after a penalty to Ben Ward expired, the Vees kept the puck in the offensive zone and worked the puck to Luc Wilson who beat Jackson Baker.

The Cents would step their game up following the goal against, and at the 14:03 mark captain Davide Patella would score unassisted to level the score. Just a minute later, Ben Ward would work the give and go with Jackson Krill to give the Cents a lead 2-1.

But just a minute later, Luc Wilson would score his second of the night to level the score once more.

Jackson Baker stood tall in the first stopping 22/24 directed his way.

The second period featured a lot of penalties but only one goal. At the 12:07 mark, Casey McDonald would cut into the middle and fire through a heavy screen to beat Baker.

Both teams would fail to convert on multiple powerplays in the frame and long stretches of 4-on-4 hockey.

Baker continued to be busy in the blue paint, stopping 39/42 through 40 minutes.

Penticton would come out strong in the opening minutes of the third scoring twice to balloon their lead to 5-2 thanks to Jackson Nieuwendyk and Adam Eisele.

Jackson Krill would respond for Merritt to make it 5-3, but that’s as close as they would get.

Baker stopped 50/55 in his best showing as a Cent.

On Friday night, the Spruce Kings were in West Kelowna to battle the Warriors. PG would manage to find a third period equalizer and send the game to overtime and then a shootout where the Warriors would be victorious 3-2.

Previous meetings;

The Cents and Spruce Kings have met six times already this year, with tonights contest being the final meeting of the season. So far PG has won all six outings including a 6-0 shutout win on Wednesday night right here at the NVMA. Spruce Kings have been on the road since that mid-week game and may have some tired legs for Merritt to take advantage of.

Blue Paint Battle;

John Hicks has been playing well recently and is now 0-8-1 with a .880 SV% and a 5.58 GAA.

Jackson Baker played his best game as Cent on Friday night stopping 50/55 shots versus Penticton. Baker is 0-5 with a .842 SV% and a 8.32 GAA in limited minutes.

Aaron Trotter has been the starter most nights for PG. He is 13-7-3 with a .918 SV% and a 2.16 GAA. The backup is Jordan Farlie who has superb numbers as well, 7-2-5 with a .923 SV% and a 1.89 GAA.

Special Teams Comparison;

PG – PP 23.9% (7/18) PK 82.4% (4/18)

Cents – PP 9.9% (18/18) PK 65.9% (18/18)