Featured picture courtesy of @Fedyck_Fotos
The GIants (22-8-2-0) snapped their two-game losing skid in their last home game of 2018 by a score of 2-1 over the Prince George Cougars (11-19-1-2). The loss is the Cougars’ fifth in a row and leaves them sitting behind Kamloops by two points for fourth in the B.C. Division.
Both goaltenders did not disappoint as they stole the show with David Tendeck recording 30 saves and the Cougars Taylor Gauthier having 32 saves of his own. The best saves of the night and WHL Highlight of the Night came from Tendeck with three consecutive highlight saves:
? WHL Highlight of the Night ?
December 16, 2018? @ArizonaCoyotes prospect David Tendeck of the @WHLGiants ?#WHLHoN pic.twitter.com/RpjNFYw2DM
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 17, 2018
The Cougars lone goal came 4:02 into the game unassisted from Jackson Leppard to give them a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes with the shots 9-6 in favour of Vancouver.
Both Giants’ goals came on the power play with Brayden Watts being the scorer of both. His first came just past the midway point of the game, bouncing on a loose puck in front to put the game at a 1-1 deadlock after two periods.
Bowen Byram and David Koch each contributed two assists.
Each team gave up five power plays with Prince George going 0/5 and Vancouver 2/5 which proved to be the difference this game with special teams playing a large role, leading to the game winning goal. Brayden Watts would score his second PP goal of the game with just under a minute left in regulation, backhanding a rebound over Gauthier’s left shoulder to make it 2-1 giving the Giants a win going into the holiday break.
?: @brayden_watts29 ⏳ pic.twitter.com/w64QsSyttS
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) December 17, 2018
3 Stars
1st Star: Giants forward Brayden Watts scored both Vancouver goals on the power play for his sixth and seventh goals of the season.
2nd Star: Giants goalie David Tendeck improved his record to 12-6-1-1 with 30 saves on 31 shots on goal.
3rd Star: Cougars goalie Taylor Gauthier had 32 saves on 34 shots to keep the Cougars in the game.
The Giants 22 wins before Christmas already give them over half their previous season’s total (36). The team is off until December 28th when they start a five game Central Division road trip in Red Deer and end it in Cranbrook, finally returning for their first home game of 2019 when they host division rival Kamloops on January 12th. Though the Giants won’t be in town, fans in the Vancouver area are lucky enough to have the world juniors in town to fill the void for local junior hockey fans and to see NHL prospects that you can always see play.
