Penticton, BC: The Penticton Vees (8-5-2) might feel like they deserved two points against the Coquitlam Express Wednesday night, but their focus is solely on the next task at hand, and that’s a showdown against the Merritt Centennials (11-7-0) on the road Friday night.
Wednesday the Vees had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 against the Express, but Coquitlam goaltender Kolby Matthews made a number of big stops to lead his team to the 3-2 shootout win.
Brendan Harrogate scored twice for the Vees, his second straight two-goal game, and Derek Krall was excellent in the Vees crease with 22 saves, but the Vees went 0/3 in the shootout in the loss.
The game almost never went to overtime as the Express thought they had taken a lead with around two and a half minutes to go, but after a short review by the officials the goal was called back due to a metal stanchion falling onto the ice following a collision behind the net just seconds before the puck went in the goal.
The Centennials have been idle since last weekend when they played a double header in Wenatchee against the Wild. A formidable foe on home ice, the Wild squandered a two-goal lead as Nick Granowicz finished off the hat trick by scoring the winner in overtime, giving Merritt a 4-3 victory.
The following night the Wild rebounded, pounding the Centennials by a score of 6-1. Despite the split the Centennials remain atop the Interior Division heading into the weekend action with their 22 points, though they have played three more games than the Vees.
Merritt boasts an impressive offence through 18 games this season racking up 74 goals, nine more than the next closest team in Coquitlam. At the other end of the spectrum, the Centennials allow their fair share of goals with 65 against, second most in the league ahead of only the Surrey Eagles.
The Vees have matched up twice against the Centennials so far this season, once at home and once on the road. September 28 Harrogate made his presence felt in his Vees debut by scoring twice and adding an assist as the Vees won 6-3.
October 10 it was James Miller’s time to shine as he recorded two goals and two assists at the South Okanagan Events Centre, leading the Vees to a 6-2 win.
Team Statistics
Leading Scorers
Penticton Vees
David Silye – 6G 16A 15GP
Eric Linell – 8G 11A 17GP
James Miller – 5G 9A 15GP
Merritt Centennials
Bradley Cocca – 9G 16A 18GP
Nick Granowicz – 12G 11A 18GP
Mathieu Gosselin – 10G 10A 18GP
Special Teams
Penticton Vees
Power Play – 15.7 per cent (15th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 83.1 per cent (7th in BCHL)
Merritt Centennials
Power play – 15.9 per cent (13th in BCHL)
Penalty kill – 77.2 per cent (15th in BCHL)
Season Series
September 28, 2018 – Vees 6 @ Centennials 3 Boxscore
October 10, 2018 – Vees 6 vs Centennials 2 Boxscore
October 26, 2018 – Vees @ Centennials
November 2, 2018 – Vees vs Centennials
January 20, 2019 – Vees @ Centennials
February 15, 2019 – Vees vs Centennials
