Rob Wilton
B.C. Division, WHL Playoffs

Vancouver is in need of a Giant victory entering Game 3 down 2-0

Written by Giancarlo Nadeau on

 

Tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre the Vancouver Giants are looking for their first victory in the second round as the G-men are currently down 2-0 over the Kamloops Blazers. A win for Vancouver cuts the deficit in half and extends their home playoff win streak to 3 games. The Blazers are one of three teams who remain undefeated in the post-season, Portland and Edmonton make up the other two teams. Here are the keys to Game 3 for the Giants.

#1 the Power Play

The Kamloops Blazers penalty kill is currently operating at 96.8% and has only allowed one goal on 31 opportunities. That goal was scored in the first round by the Spokane Chiefs meaning that Vancouver is still looking for their first goal of the series to come on the man-advantage. Vancouver came into the series with 12 of a possible 32 goals scored on the Power Play, good forĀ  37.5%,Ā  which sat 3rd in the league. Kamloops has had other plans for Vancouver having killed all eight power-play opportunities that the Giants have had in the series so far. The Blazersā€™ PK remains at the top of the WHL at 96.8% and has yet to surrender a power-play goal on the road.

 

#2 Stop the Lā€™s

Vancouver has two ā€˜Lā€™s to their name in the second round and a big reason why is because of two ā€˜Lā€™ players on the Blazers, Logan Stankoven, and Luke Toporowski. Both Logan Stankoven (7G-9A-16PTS), and Luke Toporowski (5G-6A-11PTS), have racked up points in all playoff games that theyā€™ve played in so far for the Blazers. Stankoven enters the game tied for 2nd in WHL playoff goal-scoring with 7 goals. Vancouverā€™s Adam Hall is the only player who has more points as Hall currently has eight. Logan Stankoven is also one of three players currently on the roster who were on the team during the 2019 playoffs.

 

#3 Home Cooking

The home record during the regular season for Vancouver was not good, but the teamā€™s playoff record at home has been. Vancouver will enter Game 3 tonight with a 2-1 home-ice record and takes the ice for the first time at home since eliminating the Silvertips in Game 6. This will be the fourth postseason game that the Giants will play on home ice. The WHL has already had seven of nine games won by home teams during the second round. A loud crowd paired with Vancouverā€™s recent success at home should make Game 3 an exciting one for all.

Zack Ostapchuk (3G-14A-17PTS), Fabian Lysell (4G-11A-15PTS), Alex Cotton (5G-9A-14PTS), and Adam Hall (8G-3A-11PTS) will need to be ready to go once the puck drops tonight.