Rik Fedyck

Giants end weekend on a positive note in physical affair

The Vancouver Giants ended their three-in-three weekend on a high note with a 4-0 victory over the division rival Kelowna Rockets in a spirited bout at the Langley Events Centre.

Vancouver had lost two straight games heading into Sunday afternoon’s game: 4-2 to Portland on Friday and 6-2 to Kamloops the night after.

The opening 20 minutes saw the Giants outshoot the Rockets 10-4. Neither team was able to convert, despite a lot of the period not being played five-on-five due to a penalty-filled affair to start.

Sunday’s match up was a physical one at the LEC. (photo – Rik Fedyck)

All in all, 54 minutes in penalties were handed out just in the first period alone. The boiling point was at the buzzer to end the frame, where 30 of those minutes were assessed.

Starting it all was a slash from Bowen Byram to the back of Nolan Foote’s leg. The Tampa Bay Lightning first-round pick dropped to the ice, causing mayhem in front of the Rockets bench.

Out of it all, there were two fighting majors given out to Giants defenceman Seth Bafaro and Foote.

Foote was given 17 penalty minutes in total during the exchange due to an instigator and a 10 minute misconduct for coming in late to start the fight.

The Giants eventually left the ice to a round of cheers from the Langley faithful.

“I really liked our response. I guess that they had a game plan that was they were going to go after our top guys without Owen Hardy in the lineup and try to push us around,” said head coach Michael Dyck. “We stood up, took a step forward, and stuck together, which is great for us. I think that response set the tone for the second and third period.”

Hardy, who would have played into the rough stuff perfectly, was a healthy scratch due to the Giants still having four overage players and only being able to dress three.

The home team came out guns blazing in the second, feeding off their teammates physically battling for one another.

“Everyone was sticking up for each other out there when things got chippy. It kind of brought our team closer together. We just played better as a team, better than we did the last two games, and that’s why I think we got the win,” Justin Sourdif said on his team’s response to the physical first period.

Despite starting the second period on the power play, Kelowna felt the effects of the heated exchange by losing Nolan Foote for all but 40 seconds of the period.

Vancouver took advantage of their opponent losing one of their most dangerous players by ringing off three goals within a 10 minute span. This included back-to-back tallies from import overage forward Milos Roman for his third and fourth goals of the year, giving him goals in three consecutive games on the weekend.

2020 NHL Draft prospect Justin Sourdif scored his second highlight-reel goal of his four on the year, taking a short stretch pass from Seth Bafaro on the right-wing side and snapping one crossbar and in for his first of two goals in the game, extending the lead to three.

Sourdif added an empty net goal to round out the scoring and secure a 4-0 win.

David Tendeck recorded a 14 save shutout on Sunday. (photo – Rik Fedyck)

“It felt really good,” Sourdif said about his big game. “I just have to step up my game. We’re a super young team this year up front, so I’m just trying to lead by example for some of the rookies coming in, so I’m just trying to do my best and do my job.”

Arizona Coyotes prospect David Tendeck saw his first home action of 2019-20, stopping all 14 shots he faced for his eighth WHL shutout.

Vancouver now shifts to their East Division road trip. Starting on Friday when they take on the Brandon Wheat Kings, the trip will see them away from the Langley Events Centre until October 19th when they host the newest team in the Central Division, the Swift Current Broncos.

There will be some familiar faces on the opposing benches for three of the six games of the road trip, starting with the most recently moved Brayden Watts. Watts excelled in his Raiders debut, tallying two goals and an assist. The 2019 WHL Final rematch will be at the Art Hauser Centre on October 8th.

Three days later, they travel to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors and Jadon Joseph who has two goals and an assist in four games since the trade. The next night, they conclude their East swing by facing longtime Giant Dawson Holt (1A in 4GP) and the Regina Pats before embarking on a bus ride back West.

Giant Thoughts…Justin Sourdif is currently tied for second in the WHL with eight points in five games…Bowen Byram has five assists in three games since returning to the WHL from the Colorado Avalanche…The Giants will play their first-ever game in Winnipeg on October 5th when they take on the newly-relocated ICE