GAME DAY PREVIEW (for Sunday, March 24th) Merritt Centennials (20-25-5-1) at Salmon Arm Silverbacks (31-16-0-3)

Mar 23, 2024 | 10:50 AM Vern Strecheniuk

Merritt Centennials — (20-25-5-1)

The Cents are 6-3-2 in their last eleven games but the wins have been harder to come by of late. Merritt has lost 5 of their last 7 games going 2-3-2 during that stretch with two wins against Prince George and five losses against the likes of Penticton, Vernon and Salmon Arm. This is their last chance to beat a top team in the BCHL tonight and with these two teams playing each other it should be another unpredictable matchup tonight. Will we see the Cents team who almost swept the three game set against Salmon Arm?

Salmon Arm Silverbacks — (31-16-0-3)

In what could be a possible first round matchup in the playoffs the Silverbacks are looking to win the season series against the Centennials today. They have gone back to their winning ways after a bit of a slide where they lost 6 of 8 games and are playing the right way heading into the playoffs. The Silverbacks have kept things defensively sound once again as they continue to be one of the hardest teams to score on. The Shaw Centre continues to be one of the toughest buildings for road teams in the BCHL as well.

Previous Meetings;

This is the fifth and final game between both teams with the season series knotted at two a piece.

The Cents were blown out 7-1 in Salmon Arm in a game that featured mostly AP’s, players new to the roster and a ton of injuries. The Cents would then steal a 3-2 shootout victory on their next visit to Shaw Centre in Andrew Ballantyne’s best game of the season. His 11 saves in the shootout will go down in Cents history. The next two games at the NVMA were a 4-0 win for the Cents followed by a 5-2 loss. The fifth and deciding game of the series goes down tonight in Salmon Arm.

Special Teams Comparison;

Cents PP: 35/170 (20.59%) (11th) PK: 37/184 (79.89%) (7th)

Backs PP: 32/144 (22.22%) (6th) PK: 27/143 (81.12%) (3rd)

Gillard celebrates first BCHL Goal | Flohockey

Players to Watch:

Don’t look now, but veteran CT Larochelle is on a 7 game point streak. After turning 21 last night the veteran will look to make it 8 games tonight against the Silverbacks. He has 3 goals and 4 assists during that stretch. Andrew Ballantyne has also played his best hockey against the Silverbacks, look for him to make a difference tonight as he gets the start in net.

For Salmon Arm Cole Cooksey and Isaac Lambert are coming off a recent two goal performance so let’s see if they can provide the offense for the Silverbacks tonight. With a goaltender like Eli Pulver he remains the player to watch game in and game out as well. He is a very positionally sound goaltender with a mastery of the butterfly technique and rebound controlling seems to be one of his areas of strength.

Keys to Victory:

Key number 1 – Better starts. The Cents better figure this out before the playoffs. The losses are starting to pile up as Merritt has continued to put themselves behind the eight ball time and time again during March.

Key Number 2 – Keep the shots to the outside. That’s what the Cents did during the three game set, where they were able to win two out of three. Ballantyne can stop what he can see, if the Cents do that, they will be fine tonight.

Key number 3 – Believe in themselves. Put the stats away, the home record, this is a team you can hang with. The Cents have proven they can go toe to toe with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks. Merritt has to believe they can pull off a victory in their final road game of the regular season and it will be huge for this group to get some confidence heading into the playoffs.