Centennials down Jets for second straight win

It was a hard earned win for the Merritt Centennials on Tuesday night.

The Cents hit the Connector for Summerland and scratched out a 5-2 win in BCHL action for the second win in a row improving their record to 10-5-2-1 in 18 games this season, good enough for third in the Interior Division.

The Cents were coming off a huge Sunday win over Revelstoke at home, hoping to build some momentum against the expansion Jets franchise who has split the season series with Merritt earlier in the season.

“We are playing good hockey right now,” said Henry Acres, Centennials coach. “I like what I am seeing but more importantly, we are making better decisions with the puck, both when we have it, and when we don’t.”

After a scoreless first period, the Cents fell behind 1-0 early in the second when Riddick Feeley scored his second of the season at 5:54, however the Morgan Page of the Cents responded quickly tying the game 55 second later at 6:49 of the frame to open the flood gates as they scored four times in the period to take control of the game. Also scoring in the second period was Danny Ewart (3), Reid Ronning (1), and Tyler Smith (5).

Isaac Gossen scored his fourth of season for Merritt in the third period after Logan Bates cut the Cents lead in half at 4-2 with a goal midway through the third period.

Sam Saskiw was stellar again in goal for the Centennials stopping 26 of 28 shots he faced for his 10th win of the season which now leads the BCHC.

“Sammy is playing lights out for us right now,” said Centennials defenseman Micah Thiessan. “He’s at the top of his game and as a defenseman, it takes the pressure off knowing that Sam is back there if a mistake is made and he is able to make the save.”

The Centennials have an Interior Division contest coming up on Friday when they host the Quesnel River Rush at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena (NVMA) at 7:00 p.m. The Rush have lost five in a row and are mired in the Interior Division basement. Despite that, head coach Henry Acres knows his team can not let their foot off the gas.

“They (Quesnel) has played us tough this year. We split a weekend series in their rink in October and we know they will be hungry to stop the losing streak.” he added.

On Saturday night the Fernie Ghostriders come to the NVMA for their only visit of the season.

Both games this weekend are schedule for 7:00 p.m. and you can hear the action live on Q101 with Jared Thomas and Roger White beginning with the Super Save Gas pre-game show beginning Friday night at 6:45 p.m.