It was just what the doctor (of psychiatry, that is) ordered.
The Merritt Centen-nials wrapped up an enigmatic week of hockey and a mild case of ‘Canuck-itis’ with a convincing 8-1 victory over the visiting Trail Smoke Eaters on Tuesday night.
In front of 630 fans at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, Diego Cuglietta netted the hat trick, Scotty Patterson added two goals and two assists and 15 different Cents players got on the scoresheet in the rare weeknight tilt. Devin Kero and call-up Kristian Stead shared the win in the Merritt net.
“This was a big one for us,” said Cents head coach and GM Luke Pierce in his post-game interview with Q101 radio play-by-play announcer Dustin Scafe.
“We came out in the first period and really earned our keep. I thought that we had an outstanding start. In the second, we got away from it a little bit, and Devin had to make some real good saves for us. We did a great job in the third period of getting back to what made us successful.”
Other Merritt scorers in the game against Trail were Gavin Gould, Adam Tracey and Rhett Willcox. Zane Schartz replied for the Smokies who were outshot 41-26. Neither team was able to score on their three powerplay opportunities; however, both Tracey’s goal and one of Cuglietta’s were scored with the Centennials shorthanded — a first this season.
The lopsided victory for the Centennials over the Smoke Eaters came on the heels of two disappointing and perplexing performances by the team on the weekend.
Friday night, at the Poirer Centre in Coquitlam, the Cents outshot the Express 34-22 but came out on the short end of a 2-1 final score. Only defenceman Shane Poulsen could beat Gordie Defiel in the Express net, while talented Adam Rockwood burned Merritt twice, the game winner coming shorthanded.
“There were some things that we did well,” said Pierce following the Cents-Express game. “We created some chances, and kept a very high-scoring team to what should have been one goal. At the end of the day, it all comes down to we’re not scoring goals.”
Goals weren’t the issue on Saturday as Merritt hosted Vernon for the second time in less than two weeks. Keeping a lead was more the bone of contention. The Cents allowed the persistent Vipers to battle back from three one-goal deficits in a frustrating 4-4 tie that couldn’t be settled in overtime.
Adding insult to injury, the Cents failed to score on a five-minute powerplay in the final six minutes of the third period.
“We came away from Saturday’s game feeling like it was a loss,” said Pierce. “It was nice to score some goals finally, but to let the game slip away like that was tough to swallow.”
Scoring for the Centennials were Patterson, Jeff Wight, Payton Schaefer and Daniel Nachbaur, while Riley Guenther, TJ Duminceaux, Logan Mick and Dexter Dancs replied for the Vipes.
Merritt outshot Vernon 43-37 over 70 minutes of hockey. Neither team scored on a combined seven man-advantage opportunities.
The Cents coach believes that his players are feeling the pressure of being in a dogfight for a playoff spot in the tough Interior division of the BCHL.
“I think that everybody’s a bit stressed. We have to find ways to cope with it,” he said. “With the situation we’re in, we have to win games. There’s no two ways about it.”
There’s no secret to success, according to Pierce.
“The second efforts, the desperation, the sacrifice — those are the things we need to get better at. We have to play every game like it’s a championship, and everything is on the line.”
The Centennials return to action this Friday when they entertain the West Kelowna Warriors — arguably the hottest team in the BCHL over the last two months. The Warriors have climbed into second place in the Interior division, just three points behind Penticton with one game in hand.
The Warriors have had the Cents’ number for the better part of two seasons, going 13-1-1-1 in their last 16 meetings since going back to Oct. 12, 2012.
The Cents travel to Trail on Saturday.
