Wow! What a weekend!

No matter what the result is of tonight’s Merritt Centennials’ game against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on the shores of the Shuswap, it will do little to diminish the magnificence and sheer entertainment value of the team’s pair of home performances this past weekend.

The Centennials bounced back from a disappointing 7-2 loss to the league-leading Vernon Vipers last Wednesday to thump the visiting Quesnel Millionaires 7-5 on Friday night, then followed that up with an equally impressive 8-5 victory over the Trail Smoke Eaters Saturday.

The two-night 15-goal effort, in front of a combined attendance of over 1300 fans and family members at the Nicola Valley Memorial Arena, represents the highest offensive outpouring of the season by a Cents’ team that has been somewhat goal-starved at times.

The weekend wins were also the first back-to-back victories this year by the Centennials, who improve to 6-9-0-1 on the season, and an impressive 6-4-0-0 on home ice.

The Cents forged their pair of weekend wins in different ways. Against the Mills, Merritt fell behind 3-0 early in the second period before roaring back with five unanswered goals of their own, including two markers in the first 1:32 of the final frame. Quesnel battled back to even the cleanly-played contest at 5-5, but a howitzer of a shot by Derek Hills with less than five minutes remaining, and an empty netter by Colton Sobchak sealed the Cents’ win.

For Hills, a recently converted forward-from-blueliner, the game winner represented his second goal of the night, second of three on the weekend, and third of four in three games dating back to Wednesday’s loss in Vernon. His seven points in total for the three games earned him the BCHL Player of the Week honors.

If Friday night belonged to Hills, Saturday was the Dustin Johnson show, as the 19-year-old forward from Penticton had a career game, scoring four times to lead the Cents past the Smokies in a rough affair that featured three scraps.

Saturday’s game followed a slightly different script from the night before as both Merritt and Trail scored twice in the opening stanza. The Cents had another strong middle period, and built up a 5-3 lead after 40 minutes. The Smokies tied things up early in the third, thereby setting the scene for another thrilling Centennials’ finish.

First, Johnson restored Merritt’s one-goal lead with the eventual game-winner at 14:59 of the third. That was followed by an insurance marker by speedy Jeff Jones with 1:45 left in regulation. Finally, Matt Mazzarolo tallied his second goal of the night with four seconds left in the game – a 180’ slapper from just about his own goal line that found nothing but empty net.

While the weekend games featured break-out performances by the likes of Hills and Johnson, the wins were very much team achievements. The coaching staff consistently utilized four lines throughout both games. Role players like Silvan Harper, Joey McEwan, Daniel Chang and Stephen Wall all contributed in a big way to the successes of the weekend.

Meanwhile, between the pipes, Cents’ goaltender Keith Hamilton, in relief of an injured Cole Holowenko Friday night and then as the starter Saturday, made timely saves in both outings especially in the late stages.

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