Back on the Road: Merritt Centennials (1-3-0-0) @ Cranbrook Bucks (2-2-0-0)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Merritt Centennials – 1-3-0

The Centennials are licking their wounds after a solid start to the season. A 5-3 win over the Powell River Kings, it was the team’s second straight win considering they finished the preseason with a 4-1 win over Salmon Arm. Since then? Outscored 15-5 in three games. A 6-0 loss to the Vees, a 4-2 loss in Vernon and a 5-3 loss in Prince George to finish off last week’s road trip. The Cents have been in town since last night, no long bus ride, we’ll see if that can add a little jump to the boys step.

Cranbrook Bucks – 2-2-0

Everything looked set in place for another solid season for the Bucks. 3-1-0 in the preseason, a 2-1-0 start to the season and the dethroning of the undefeated West K Warriors in (a 2-1 win.) The wheels fell off in the team’s final game of a 4 game road trip to start the season. They were embarrassed 6-1 in Salmon Arm to fall to 2-2-0. We’ll see if that bodes well for the Centennials. Cranbrook will get the boost of their home opener tonight. It should be fairly evenly matched both games because Merritt won’t be bussing over for either game, a rare advantage the Cents need to take advantage of.

Previous Meetings;

“House of Horrors”

The Centennials are looking for their first ever win (or point) in Cranbrook. Merritt has visited Western Financial Place five times going 0-5-0-0.

6-3 L

6-1 L

8-0 L

4-1 L

5-2 L

Outscored 29-7 in five blowout losses. The Cents have only scored more than two goals once and never more than three goals in Cranbrook.

Blue Paint Battle;

Andrew Ballantyne has maintained a .900 save percentage despite sporting a GAA of 4.00. That’s a sign of a solid goaltender, and Ballantyne has done everything he can to keep his team in it, in the two games that he has played. 

Karlis Mezsargs seeks his first win as a Centennial after an 0-2 start with a GAA of 5.04 and save percentage of .861. 

Both goalies will likely be given a shot, the way Passmore has been alternating goalies.

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents – PP 20.0% % (3/15) (11th) PK 82.4 % (14/17) (8)

Bucks– PP 13.3 % (2/15) (12th) PK 70 % (14/20) (16th)

Players to Watch;

Captain Aiden Lindblad is confident after scoring his first goal of the season, he seemed to have his legs under him after notching “numero uno.” Michael Felsing leads the team with 5 assists in 4 games, Zach Losier is also red-hot after scoring the opening goal of the game in back-to-back road games. Losier has 3 goals in 4 games, the leading goal scorer on the Cents.

He’s committed to St. Cloud State University of the NCAA, Noah Urness is a young bright addition to the Bucks. He has 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 road games. Oskar Cederqvist, the Swedish import is 2nd on the team with 2 goals and 3 points in 4 games. The Bucks are struggling to score this year, with just 9 goals in 4 games so far. Merritt hasn’t faired much better with 10 goals in 4 games.