Centennials travel to Princeton for key KIJHL matchup tonight

The Merritt Centennials are back in action tonight when they travel to Princeton for another key Bill Ohlhausen Division matchup against the Posse.

This is the second of a four-game road trip for the Centennials, who have not lost in regulation since Dec. 12.

For a second week in a row, the Centennials are first in the KIJHL Power Ranking with an impressive 8-0-2 record, including a 5-4 come-from-behind shootout win over the Posse on Jan. 24 at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (NVMA).

“We know Princeton has a lot of pride in their locker room and they will be up for Tuesday’s game for a little payback,” Cents head coach Wes McLeod said. “We have to get out to a better start than we did last game and play our brand of hockey.”

In the Jan. 24 game against Princeton, the Cents trailed 4-0 before the game was nine minutes old; however, Merritt clawed back to eventually pull off that exciting 5-4 victory in a shootout.

The Centennials will be without two key offensive pieces to their lineup tonight.

Forward Troy Horn, who has been suspended one game for kneeing in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout loss in Revelstoke, and Noah Lawless, the Cents’ leading scorer with 26 goals and 28 assists is down with an illness.

Merritt and Princeton will also face each other on Friday night when the Centennials travel to the Princeton District Arena, before heading to Kamloops on Saturday to wrap up the road trip.

Tonight’s game can be heard on Q101 with Jared Thomas, beginning with the Super Save Gas Pre-Game show beginning at 6:45 p.m.