Something’s got to give.
The Vancouver Giants managed to muster a point but were ultimately defeated 3-2 in overtime by the last place Prince George Cougars Sunday evening.
The loss puts them on a three-game skid.
Prince George had 16-year-old goaltender Tyler Brennan start in goal after Taylor Gauthier fell to injury the previous night in Tri-City. The youngster did not look out of place, making 37 saves for his second career WHL win including a highlight-reel save on Milos Roman in the third period that would have given the Giants the lead. He was also named the game’s first star.
What gusty win by the @PGCougars in overtime. What a night for 16-year-old @tyler_brennan70. 37-saves, first star, and now is 2-0.
But, this save. My goodness.
CC: @TheWHL #SaveoftheWeek pic.twitter.com/LcSmccM8N2
— Fraser Rodgers ?? (@Fraser_PG) October 28, 2019
“I thought their young goaltender played really well.” Giants coach Michael Dyck said about Brennan. “He made the saves he needed to make. They battled extremely hard in front of him after riding the bus all night. I think they got here around 5 am.”
All the more impressive for a struggling Cougars squad. Having to take a five and a half-hour bus ride overnight to play the second of a back-to-back is no easy feat.
Reid Perepeluk opened the game’s scoring, creating a 2-on-1 with Josh Maser after Bowen Byram blew a tire at the centre line and finishing off a pretty passing play for the Prince George native’s second goal of the season.
Ilijah Colina, from nearby North Delta, also recorded his second of the year on the powerplay by one-timing a pass from Filip Koffer over the glove of Trent Miner to make it 2-0 Prince George, a lead they took into the middle frame.
Vancouver started the second period with a full two-minute powerplay after Reid Perepeluk was called for roughing right at the buzzer to end the first, but was unable to convert.
The Giants did, however, take advantage of their third man advantage of the night on a nifty effort from Tristen Nielsen who dangled through defenders and placed a perfect shot under the crossbar for his eighth of the season and cut the lead in half just over five minutes into the period.
It’s been no secret that the Giants’ powerplay has been struggling, having converted just two of their last 22 opportunities with both goals coming this weekend including going 1/8 on Sunday.
“I think the guys that are on it need to buy into what we’re talking about is all. It’s not like we have to re-invent the wheel, a powerplay is a powerplay. Five guys aren’t working together, that’s the problem.” Dyck said frustratingly on his team’s powerplay struggles.
As a whole, the second period was a great bounce back from digging themselves into a two-goal deficit.
“We started to simplify our game a little bit and it worked for us.”
Vancouver tied the game at the 11:45 mark with a goal from Shepard squared, something Giants fans can get used to seeing. The younger of the two, Cole, nicely cycled the puck to Jackson who threw it on net and was able to slide through Brennan’s pads to give the 3736 in attendance some life.
Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the last twenty minutes despite Vancouver being handed four consecutive powerplays in the period and five overall going back to the previous period. Quite the opposite from what the Giants experienced the game prior when they took six minor penalties in a row against Everett.
The extra frame saw Vancouver almost playing keep-away with the Cougars for the majority of the time but weren’t able to get much at the net but included Lukas Svejkovsky ringing one off the crossbar.
Despite the lengthy possession from the Giants, Prince George was able to capitalize on their opportunity, stealing a point from the home team when overage defenceman Ryan Schoettler wired a quick slapshot top corner over Miner’s glove to seal the victory and improving their record to 1-2 against Vancouver this season.
Michael Dyck was noticeably frustrated with his squad postgame and it was not unwarranted. This group is not living up to the potential that they are equipped with after being recognized as a contender coming into the season.
“There’s got to be some internal accountability. We had lots of that last year but right now we’re not getting enough of that. We have to be accountable to each other and until that happens, nothing’s going to change.”
Vancouver’s chance to redeem themselves comes on Saturday when they take their 7-8-1-0 record south of the border to Kennewick, Washington to take on the 7-5-0-1 Tri-City Americans who have allowed the most goals in the Western Conference.
