Centennials snap losing streak while getting first win of the second half

The Merritt Centennials snapped a five-game losing streak and also snapped a nine-game winning streak of the Cranbrook Bucks.

It is also the Cents first win of the second half of the season.

In the first period, the Centennials came out to a hot start. Just over a minute into the game, Jackson Murphy-Johnson fired the first shot of the game on net from the point and it found its way to the back of the net. Six minutes later, the Bucks were able to answer. Jeremy Tremblay scored his fifth of the season, tying this game back up at 1-1. For the rest of the period, the teams traded a pair of penalties. Final after the first, 1-1.

The second period was reversed as the penalties came first and the goals came later. Three penalties combined were taken by these two teams in the first six minutes of the middle frame. Coming out of the BCHL media timeout, the Centennials were pressuring. Tristan Allen throws a shot on net and Jacob Smith was able to get a piece of it and tip it into the net to give the Cents the lead again. Five minutes later, the Bucks answered quickly again. Noah Quinn took the puck up the left wing and fired it five-hole to tie up the game. Final after the second, 2-2.

In the final period, the Bucks grabbed the lead for the first time in the game. Quinn scored his second of the game on a third rebound opportunity to give the Bucks the lead with 13 minutes left. Down by one, the game seemed to get tougher for the Cents as Walker Erickson went to the penalty box at the halfway mark of the period. With the Bucks on the man advantage, it was actually the Centennials who took control. Christian Lowe found himself on a short-handed breakaway, and beat the goalie through the legs for game-tying short-handed goal. With time winding down, Ryan Spinale, who made his return to the Centennials lineup, came down the ice on a two-on-one and decided to rifle the shot bottom left corner for the go-ahead goal. Final score 4-3.

Johnny Hicks played phenomenal in the win, stopping 48 of 51 shots faced.

The next game for the Merritt Centennials is tonight (January 6) in a rematch game, the second of a back-to-back, against the Cranbrook Bucks.