Adam Kierszenblat
B.C. Division, Game Recap

Giants Continue Their Hot Start Picking Up 5 of 6 Possible Points

Written by Adam Kierszenblat on

The Giants had a busy week with three games against three different opponents. The team fought hard and walked away with two wins and an overtime loss. They have now improved their record to 6-2-1 through nine games. Here is a breakdown of the week that was.

Giants- 6 versus Rockets- 7

Vancouver kicked off the week with a barn burner versus the Kelowna Rockets. The game included comebacks from both teams but ended with the Giants giving up a 6-4 lead in the third to fall 7-6.

The Giants were able to spread out the scoring with no player recording more than a single goal. The goalscorers were Damian Palmieri, Payton Mount, Tanner Brown, Connor Horning, Zack Ostapchuk and Ethan Semeniuk. In goal, Jesper Vikman held them in as long as possible but surrendered seven goals on 40 shots.

Although this game was fun to watch, it showed that the Giants can not outscore their defensive mistakes every night. The hope is the additions of Alex Cotton and Evan Toth will stabilize this defence core in the future. Otherwise, it could be a long year for Vikman as he will be forced to stand on his head game after game.

Three Stars for the Giants

Justin Sourdif- 2 assists, 1 shot, +2, 16/25 faceoffs

Ty Halaburda- 2 assists

Jesper Vikman- 33 saves on 40 shots

Giants- 3 versus Cougars- 1

On Friday night, the Giants took care of the Prince George Cougars, beating them by a score of 3-1. Although they did fall behind 1-0 after the first, Vancouver kept pushing the pace and scored three straight to cap off the win. In the victory, Will Gurski captured his first win as a Giants, stopping 25 of 26 shots.

The Giants got goals from the usual suspects as Mazden Leslie, Justin Sourdif and Payton Mount all found the back of the net. As he has been all year, Ty Thorpe was a big part of the win picking up first star honours after a two-assist night.

Although the power play could not score, it was nice to see that the Giants could find offence at even strength. The final goal scored by Mount was into an empty net, but it showed Vancouver kept pushing to the end and never let their foot off the gas. It was a well-deserved win, and as usual, the new alternate jersey’s looked fantastic.

Three Stars for the Giants

Ty Thorpe- 2 assists, 1 shot +1, 11/19 faceoffs

Justin Sourdif- 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots, +2, 13/23 faceoffs

Will Gurski- 25 saves on 26 shots

Giants- 3 versus Portland- 1

For the first time since Friday, November 8th, 2019, the Vancouver Giants defeated the Portland Winterhawks. The Giants won 3-1 thanks to a massive night by Jesper Vikman. The Swedish goaltender finished with 39 saves on 40 shots in front of the largest home crowd this season.

The Giants exploded for three goals in just over two minutes as Connor Horning, Ty Thorpe and Nicco Cammazzola all found the back of the net. This was enough to chase Portland starter Dante Giannuzzi as he allowed three goals on his first eight shots of the game. It was a fun game to watch as Vikman made save after save, proving why he is one of the best goaltenders in the WHL.

Although the Giants won, this was not their best effort as a team. There were a lot of scrambles in front of their own net, and they had a hard time clearing the zone. The good news is rookies Ty Halaburda and Ethan Semeniuk had solid games, with Halaburda even getting a shoutout from coach Michael Dyck postgame.

Three Star for the Giants

Jesper Vikman- 39 saves on 40 shots

Connor Horning- 1 goal, 4 shots, +1

Ty Halaburda- 1 assist, 8/18 faceoffs

Next Game

The Giants head to Prince George for back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games have a start time of 7:00 pm PST. It will be tough sledding for the Giants as they look to continue their winning ways against the Cougars. This will also be the first opportunity for Giants fans to see Alex Cotton and Evan Toth as both are expected to play this week.