The Cowichan Valley Capitals had a lighter schedule than they anticipated last weekend, beating the Merritt Centennials 4-3 on Sunday afternoon after highway closures on the Mainland forced the postponement of their scheduled home game against the Salmon Arm Silverbacks on Friday.
While not thrilled with his team’s performance on Sunday, Capitals head coach Bob Beatty was pleased to get another two points in the standings.
“It was a win,” he said. “It wasn’t a Picasso, but certainly a win’s a win, especially when you haven’t had many in recent times.”
Up by three goals after dominating play in the first half of the second period, the Caps nearly lost their grip on the lead.
“We were up 4-1, and we didn’t lock it down quite tight enough, obviously,” Beatty said. “They made it 4-3 with five minutes to go. We did hold on for the win. I would have appreciated more cushion, but that’s the way it goes. [The Centennials] are a pretty desperate team, too.”
Alec Zawatsky opened the scoring for the Caps at 5:19 of the first period, and the Centennials answered back just over two minutes later, and the teams were deadlocked at 1-1 after 20 minutes. Mitch Skapski scored exactly one minute into the second, and Rhett Kingston added to the lead just a minute and 30 seconds after that. The Caps kept up their strong play, getting a powerplay marker from Ayden MacDonald at 11:39 to make it a three-goal advantage. The Cents answered back with one in the second and another with 5:03 remaining in the third, but the Caps were able to prevent them from tying the score.
“We got a little bit too high-risk with the three-goal lead,” Beatty said. “We should be managing the game better than we did.”
Adam Marcoux got the call in the Capitals’ net and stopped 29 of 32 shots for the win.
Friday’s game was cancelled when the Salmon Arm Silverbacks were unable to get through on the Coquihalla Highway in time. The Silverbacks didn’t make it to Vancouver Island until 9:30 that night. The game has been rescheduled for Feb. 22, with an early 6 p.m. start.
“It would have been nice to have played the game,” Beatty said. “As far as our game plan for the weekend, we didn’t have ice on Saturday, so we had an optional skate on Friday night and tried to stay ready for Sunday.”
The Caps could lock up a playoff spot with a road win against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs on Tuesday night, but they won’t be able to let their guard down after that as they are still battling the Nanaimo Clippers for third place, and they visit the Clips on Wednesday evening.
Those games mark the last regular-season road dates for the Caps, who host Salmon Arm on Feb. 22, Alberni on Feb. 24, and the Powell River Kings, a potential playoff opponent, on Feb. 25.
“It would be nice to lock down a playoff spot this week. At least we’re at home after that,” Beatty said. “We can start preparing for who we’re going to play [in the playoffs].”