New look Centennials split pair of games after the trade deadline

With new faces on the team and old ones leaving, the Merritt Centennials played their first games since the BCHL trade deadline.

With one game on the road and one at home, the Centennials split the pair of games over the weekend.

Friday, January 13: Merritt Centennials @ Salmon Arm Silverbacks

The new look Merritt Centennials came out hot in the first period. Jaxson Murray snapped home his 12 goal of the season in the first five and a half minutes into the period. Just over a minute later, Dylan Emerson took the puck at the side of the net, on the goal line, and got it to sneak by the goalie for a 2-0 Cents lead. It was Emerson’s first career BCHL goal in his Centennials debut. At the 12:32 mark of the opening period, the Salmon Arm Silverbacks answered back with Nathan Mackie scoring his 17 of the season, cutting the Cents lead to one. Five minutes later, with time running down in the first, Ethan Ullrick found the back of the net. tying the game up. Final after the first, 2-2.

The second period started just as good for the Centennials, being able to jump back out to their early lead. With the Cents on a 5-on-3 man advantage, Murray rifled his second goal of the game. Less than four minutes later, Jackson Krill snapped home his 14 goal of the season to give the Cents a two goal lead again. On Krill’s goal, Merritt native Lucas Schmid got an assist which is his first point on the season. With the clock ticking down, the Centennials found themselves on a odd man rush with 12 seconds left. Newly named captain, Christian Lowe passed over to Murray who tapped it in the empty net to complete the hat trick. Final after the second, 5-2.

It was the Silverbacks turn to have a hot start and a dominating period. Within the first five minutes, Hayden Stavroff cut the lead down to two with his fourth of the season. Before the BCHL media timeout, at the 9:46 mark, Ryan Gillespie scored his sixth, making it a one-goal game. The Centennials were able to fight off heavy pressure and lots of shots against for the rest of the final frame, even battling off an empty net man advantage. Final score 5-4.

Johnny Hicks made an outstanding 53/57 saves. Playing in his first game as a Centennial, former Silverback Aidan Lindblad finished the game with two assists.

Saturday, January 14: Merritt Centennials VS West Kelowna Warriors

The West Kelowna Warriors came to the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena ready to play. In the first two minutes of the game, Felix Caron jumped on a rebound, putting the puck in the back of the net for his tenth of the season. Just under six minutes later, it was Brennan Nelson this time finding the loose puck in front and throwing it in for an early 2-0 lead. With five and a half minutes left in the opening frame, Michael Salandra opened up the scoring even more with his tenth of the season. There was no penalties throughout the period. Final after the first, 3-0.

The Merritt Centennials were not ready to roll over and came into the second period hungry. Four minutes in, with it being 4-on4, Jonathan Wong came into the zone on an odd man rush and elected to shoot it himself, finding the back of the net. The goal was Wong’s first of his BCHL career. 50 seconds later, Ben MacDonald was taken off for boarding, sending the Cents to the man advantage. With an extra attacker, Erik Sollied grabbed the puck at the blue line, walked up into the slot, and fired a shot top corner, cutting the lead to one. Coming out of the media timeout, Mark Thurston tied this game up at 3-3 with his third goal of the season. With 19 seconds left in the period, Thurston would take a charging penalty, sending the Warriors to the powerplay. Final after the second, 3-3.

Starting the third period with the man advantage, the Warriors would quickly take advantage of it. Just over a minute in, Luke Devlin would tap in his seventh of the season as the puck slide through the crease. Nearing the halfway point of the period, the Cents would find themselves shorthanded once again with Connor Farren in the box for a trip. It didn’t even take the Warriors 40 seconds to capitalize as MacDonald ripped home the powerplay goal. Down by two with the time starting to become the enemy, the Centennials were not done battling. Thurston found himself sprung on a breakaway, coming out of the media timeout, and snapped in low corner, cutting the deficit to one. A minute left in the final frame, the Centennials searching for the tying goal, emptied the net for a man advantage but it bite them in the butt. Jaiden Moriello would find the net empty to put the icing on the cake. Final score, 6-4.

Johnny Hicks would save 50 of 55 shots faced against him.

It is the All-Star break throughout the BCHL with the festivities taking place this weekend (January 20-22). Heading to Penticton to participate is Jackson Krill, Diego Johnson, and Aleksey Chichkin.

The next regular season game for the Centennials is Wednesday, January 25 in West Kelowna for a rematch against the Warriors.