The Vancouver Giants came into this past weekend with a three-game win streak, with a most recent win against Kootenay on December 9th showing why they are such an improved team this year. This year’s team came in the final weekend of the first half of the year, hungry and scoring lots of goals. The Giants first game of a very difficult three game in three day schedule before the Christmas break started at home on Friday against Victoria.
Friday
The Giants had two goals in the last minute of the first as Jared Dmytriw and Darian Skeoch found the twine. Benson made it 3-0 Vancouver early on in the second, before Victoria made it close with Noah Gregor getting his first with the Royals. That was the last goal of the game as the Giants won 3-1. Dmytriw, the former Royal was first star, Benson was the second and Skeoch was third. David Tendeck stopped 21 shots in the win, while Griffen Outhouse stopped 31 in the loss. The Royals were 0-for-1 on the power play while the Giants were 1-for-2. The Giants extended their season high win streak to four games.
Saturday
Saturday night continued their three-games in three-nights all against BC division opponents. This time the Giants visited the Royals. Matthew Phillips scored the only goal between the two teams in the first period. The Giants then took the lead in the second period with goals from Brayden Watts and Ty Ronning to make it 2-1. Early in the third, Eric Florchuk scored to make in a 2-2 hockey game. Dylan Plouffe, who has had a great season to this point, scored a pair six minutes apart to make it 4-2 Vancouver. It was a two-goal hockey game for the Giants for awhile until Ronning got his second of the night and 31st of the season to make it 5-2 in the final minute of the game into an open net. Brayden Watts scored in the last 11 seconds to make it 6-2 and that was the final score from Victoria. Watts, Ronning, and Plouffe all had a pair of goals. Todd Scott gave up two on 27 shots, while Outhouse gave up five on 43. The first star was Dylan Plouffe, second was the Royal’s Matt Phillips and the third was James Malm with two assists. Vancouver had a power play goal for the second straight game as the G-Men went 1-for-3 on the PP. Victoria were 0-for-2. The Giants went into Sunday afternoons tilt against the Prince George Cougars with lots of confidence, on a five-game win streak.
Sunday
Sunday afternoon, the Giants were back at the Langley Events Centre for their annual Teddy Bear Toss game against the Cougars, looking to make it six in a row. The home team Sunday had not done that since the 2014-2015 season back at the Coliseum. The rivalry between these two teams reared its ugly head in a physical, fight filled, and low scoring hockey game. There were three fights in this one, as Kody MacDonald of the Cougars made his presence felt with a tough hit on Tyler Benson. Owen Hardy also got taken out later on in the hockey game. On this special night for the Giants, it seemed like nothing was going in. Bowen Byram scored on a slap shot from the point to make it 1-0 that finally make the bears rain down. Ty Ronning scored his 32nd of the year and his 3rd of the weekend into the empty net. Tavin Grant stopped 30 shots in the loss while David Tendeck stopped 40 shots for his 2nd shutout of the season. Bowen Byram was the first star with his second of the season and the game winner, Tavin Grant was second star for the Cougars stopping 30 shots, and David Tendeck was the third star. The Giants were 2-for-5 on the power play while the visitors were 0-for-4. The Giants head into the break with plenty of confidence and a winning record. Their next game is December 27th when they host the Everett Silvertips.
