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Preview: Vees look to bounce back in Game Four in Merritt

Season Series

October 7th: Merritt 1 at Penticton 5

October 8th: Penticton 4 at Merritt 3 (OT)

October 21st: Penticton 4 at Merritt 2

November 19th: Merritt 2 at Penticton 3 (OT)

December 30th: Merritt 2 at Penticton 4

January 13th: Penticton 2 at Merritt 3

February 1st: Penticton 4 at Merritt 2

Playoff Schedule

GM 1: Merritt 1 at Penticton 4

GM 2: Merritt 1 at Penticton 4

GM 3: Penticton 1 at Merritt 5

GM 4: March 21st at Merritt, 7 pm

*GM 5: March 23rd at SOEC, 7 pm

*GM 6: March 25th at Merritt, 7 pm

*GM 7: March 27th at SOEC, 7 pm

* If necessary

It’s a pivotal Game Four tonight in Merritt in the Interior Division Semi-Final between the Penticton Vees and Merritt Centennials. The Vees, with a win, can take a commanding 3-1 series lead heading back home for Game Five Thursday. A Cents’ win and the series is tied 2-2 and it’s a best-of-three down the stretch.

Merritt climbed back into the series Monday, thumping Penticton 5-1 in Game Three. Two thirds of Merritt’s top line stepped to the forefront, as Tyler Ward and Michael Regush each had a goal and an assist in the win. Cade Gleekel, Nicholas Wicks and Stephan Seeger (empty-net) also scored for Merritt, who won their seventh straight home game going back to the regular season.

Chris Klack spoiled Jacob Berger’s shutout bid with just under five-minutes left in the third period, as that was the only blemish on an otherwise impressive outing by Berger, who went on to stop 42 of 43 shots; he was the named the game’s first star.

Monday was the Vees’ second loss in five games in Merritt this season, as they also dropped a 3-2 decision back on January 13th. Despite Monday’s hiccup, Penticton has still won eight of 10 games against the Cents’ this season.

Merritt will be brimming with confidence ahead of tonight’s Game Four, as mentioned, they’re undefeated at home in the playoffs and haven’t lost at home since February 1st. In their last seven home games, they’ve scored 36 goals and have scored five or more goals in four of those seven; Penticton will want to get the jump on Merritt early.

One area that needs to shore up is the Vees’ power-play which is now 0-11 in the post-season, after going 0-5 in Game Three. Compounding matters was the fact the Vees failed to capitalize on a five-on-three power-play midway through the first when they were trailing 1-0. Merritt’s penalty-kill has been very good in the playoffs, as it sits third at 91.3 percent and has allowed just two goals during 23 short-handed situations. A power-play goal could go a long way in Game Four tonight for Penticton.

It goes without saying scoring the first goal will be critical tonight. It was a rowdy atmosphere in Game Three at Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, and the Centennials fed off the energy from their fans. Penticton doesn’t want the Cents’ to get the crowd involved early and let them feel good about themselves. Merritt is 5-0-0 in the post-season when they score first and 4-0-0 when they lead after the first period. On the flipside, Penticton is undefeated in this series when they score first and when they lead after the opening 20-minutes.

Mat Robson will look to bounce back after his first loss of the playoffs, as he comes into tonight’s game with a 2-1 record, whilst owning a 2.02 goals-against average and sports a .921 save percentage. The veteran would have liked a couple goals back last night and he’ll look to set the tone in Game Four. It remains to be seen if the Vees make any changes to their line-up, as they’ve iced the same roster for the first three games of the series. Greg Brydon, Sam Rossini and Kenny Johnson have been out on the blue-line, along with forward Taylor Sanheim. The Vees also have AP’s Connor Bouchard, Cassidy Bowes and Massimo Rizzo available to slot in upfront.

Penticton knows a thing or two about bouncing back, as they were 11-2-1-1 in the regular season coming off a loss.

Merritt did make a change to their line-up last night, inserting AP forward Ian Creamore into the line-up. The 20-year-old played for the North Vancouver Wolf Pack in the Pacific International Junior Hockey League (PIJHL) down in the Lower Mainland. Merritt will likely ice the same lineup tonight as they did in Game Three.

Vees’ Playoff Scoring:

Nicholas Jones 1-3-4
Gabe Bast 2-1-3
Chris Klack 1-2-3
Jamie Armstrong 1-1-2
Duncan Campbell 1-1-2

Centennials’ Playoff Scoring:

Tyler Ward 8-5-13
Stephan Seeger 4-4-8
Michael Regush 3-4-7
Brett Jewell 3-3-6
Mike Faulkner 1-5-6

Tonight’s game can be heard on EZ Rock AM 800 locally, or via the iHeartRadio app on your iPhone, iPad, smartphone and or tablet. The game is also available via the BCHL webcast at www.HockeyTV.com