2003 – first playoff game
The Giants took on the eventual WHL champion Kelowna Rockets in their first playoff game in franchise history to open the 2003 playoffs. Kelowna had the best record in the WHL, finishing 48 points ahead of Vancouver while the Giants went into the playoffs without a win in their previous 13 games.
The Rockets blew out the young Giants by a score of 10-0 in front of 6227 at Prospera Place to take a 1-0 series lead.
Rockets forward Jesse Schultz opened the scoring on the power play, his first of two goals on the night as well as adding an assist.
Leading the way in points was Tyler Mosienko who had two goals and three assists while future NHL defenceman Josh Gorges had two goals and two assists.
The Giants had both goalies appear in the game with Jordan McLaughlin stopping 17-of-23 shots while rookie Clayton Turko stopping 21-of-25 shots.
Rockets goaltender Kelly Guard stopped all 18 shots he faced.
2008 – Repik wins it late
The Chilliwack Bruins were in town for Game 2 of the opening round after the Giants squeaked out a 2-1 victory the night before.
Vancouver finished third overall in the WHL standings and winning the BC Division with 106 points while Chilliwack had the third seed with 65 points.
The game didn’t see its first goal until over halfway through when LA Kings prospect Oscar Moller scored his second of the postseason before the Giants answered back with a goal from Spencer Machacek about five minutes later.
Michal Repik gave the Giants their first lead of the game just 1:14 into the third period for his first of two goals. It only took the Bruins four minutes to even things back up, setting up for an exciting finish.
It was Repik again, his third of the postseason, with 59 seconds left in regulation to give the Giants the late lead, which they hung onto to take a 2-0 series lead with everything shifting to Chilliwack.
Mark Friesen stopped 30-of-33 shots for the Bruins while Tyson Sexsmith turned aside 20-of-22 for Vancouver.
2014 – Portland blanks Vancouver
With Portland taking Game 1 of the first round the night prior by a 4-3 score, the Giants were looking to head back to the Pacific Coliseum with a series split.
The Winterhawks finished the season with 113 points and a US Division title, while the Giants had secured the final BC Division playoff spot with 75 points.
Nic Petan opened the scoring against his hometown team 16 minutes into the first period with his first goal of the postseason.
The home team dominated the game, out-shooting Vancouver 43-15 while the Giants unraveled, giving Portland nine power plays.
Alex Schoenborn and Taylor Leier scored two quick goals in the second period to put the game away and earn a convincing 2-0 series lead going into Vancouver.
Brendan Burke had the shutout for Portland while Payton Lee made 40 saves for the Giants.
2019 – opening night of playoffs
The Giants went into the 2019 postseason fresh off a Western Conference regular season title and were matched up with the second wild card team the Seattle Thunderbirds.
Vancouver knew the series wasn’t going to be a cakewalk as them and the Thunderbirds split the season series 2-2, with the Giants winning the last two games of it.
After no scoring in the first period of the playoffs, the Giants exploded for four goals in the middle frame including two goals 23 seconds apart in the first 1:43. Seattle added a goal from Andrej Kukuca with the teams going to the dressing rooms with a 4-1 Giants lead.
The Giants kept the pressure on early with goals from Dawson Holt, Dylan Plouffe and Bowen Byram by the 6:41 mark of the third period, giving Vancouver the rest of the period to try to get out unscathed.
With six seconds remaining in regulation, Jake Lee was given a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct for a play on Giants rookie Justin Sourdif. Lee was given a three-game suspension and Sourdif missed the rest of the series. Vancouver walked away with a convincing 7-1 win in Game 1.
Seattle’s Roddy Ross stopped 25-of-31 shots before being relieved by Cole Schwebius with about 15 minutes left in the game, stopping eight of nine shots.
Giants goaltender Trent Miner had 27 saves.
