Despite a makeshift lineup still ravaged by injuries and illness, the Merritt Centennials managed to salvage a split of their weekend home-and-home series with the Surrey Eagles, last year’s BCHL champions and RBC Cup finalists.
Friday, on home ice, it was a bit like a game of last goal wins, as the two teams turned the lamp on nine times in a messy but entertaining 5-4 Cents’ victory in front of over 700 fans at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena.
Both teams played much more responsibly the next day on the Olympic-sized ice surface at the South Surrey Arena. Goals were hard to come by as the Eagles edged the Centennials 2-1.
The one win on the weekend brings Merritt’s record to 16-10-1-1, good for 34 points and third place in the tight Interior Division of the BCHL. Penticton and Vernon top the list with 36 and 35 points respectively.
The first meeting between the Cents and Eagles on Friday definitely looked like a game being played by two teams that hadn’t seen each other this season. It was scrambly, and filled with mistakes by both sides.
“That was definitely a factor,” said Cents head coach and GM Luke Pierce in reference to the lack of familiarity. “We gave up more odd-man rushes in the first period of Friday’s game than I think I’ve seen all season. It took us awhile to adjust.”
Darius Davidson got the Eagles on the board just 3:02 into the game on a defensive breakdown by the Cents. It was the first of five goals in a frenetic opening period that saw Surrey leave the ice with a 3-2 lead. Jonah Renouf and captain Brett Mulcahy also scored for the Winged Ones, while Jeff Wight and Diego Cuglietta (shorthanded) replied for Merritt.
The scoring onslaught continued in the second period with four more goals. Fortunately, the Centennials netted three of them to take a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Finding the twine for the Cents were Wight and Cuglietta again, along with team-scoring leader Scotty Patterson. Recent acquisition Luke Sandler was the only Eagle to beat Merritt netminder Devin Kero.
The Centennials outshot the Eagles 30-26 on the night. They failed to score on five man-advantage opportunities while giving up one PP goal on three chances for the visitors.
Merritt’s injury woes continued on Friday, as James Neil failed to finish the game due to an awkward fall into the boards, and Patterson was shaken up by a pair of questionable high hits from the Eagles’ Sandler. Nevertheless, Pierce was pleased to escape with the win.
“We’ve been really good at home in the last few weeks and really finding our groove,” said Pierce. “It just seemed like Friday night we decided to try and trade chances with the other team rather than just grind them down. Fortunately, we came away with the two points.”
In the second half of the doubleheader on Saturday, Pierce liked the way his team started, but was less than pleased with the finish.
“I thought we had a really good first five minutes,” the coach said. “We had seven shots, drew a penalty and capitalized on it. Then we took four of the next five penalties and just couldn’t get anything going from there on in.”
Wight’s third goal of the weekend in the early going held up through 40 minutes of play on the big ice, and seemed to give the Cents a false sense of security. They failed to put the pedal to the metal.
“We stopped moving our feet and didn’t generate any sustained pressure,” said Pierce. “We were turning pucks over at the blueline and misreading plays. The third period might have been the worst hockey I’ve seen us play in a long time.”
The poor play proved costly as the Eagles got goals from Renouf and Danton Heinen in the first eight minutes of the final frame to take a lead they would never surrender. Surrey outshot Merritt 27-21. Each team scored once on the powerplay in 11 combined chances.
On a positive note, the weekend saw the return of Daniel Nachbaur to Merritt’s lineup after almost a two-month absence due to a serious skate laceration to his arm. The rookie forward looked comfortable playing limited minutes on Friday, and was one of the Centennials’ best players on Saturday, according to Pierce.
Neil did not play on Saturday, and the power forward’s return to action is indefinite. Missing from the Cents’ lineup all weekend were Tyler Martin and Russell Sanderson (illness) and Adam Tracey (injury).
Up next for the Centennials are four key games against the best in the BCHL. Friday, Merritt travels to Vernon to tangle with the Vipers. On Saturday, they host the league’s top team in points — the Powell River Kings. Next week, the Cents play a home-and-home series with the Penticton Vees.
“I think the next two weeks will see a lot more clarity in our division [in terms of points and placings],” said Pierce. “We just have to hope that we’re on the right side of things.”
