DUBNetwork Game of the Night: Vancouver Giants (32-22-3-2) @ Kamloops Blazers (37-17-3-1) 7:00 PM
How can you not continue to keep coming back to this division? The teams are battling hard for playoff positioning and a lot remains to be decided as the teams play out the regular season schedule.
Kamloops has a nine-point lead over Vancouver with a game in hand, for the BC Division crown. The seeding, of course, is important as the BC Division winners are likely to host the Memorial Cup hosting Kelowna Rockets. The Giants have played two fewer games than the Victoria Royals but have the same number of points.
In the season series, Kamloops has a slight edge, they are 4-2-1-0. Vancouver is 3-3-1-0.
Over their previous seven games, the teams have combined for 45 goals, 27 of them were scored by the Blazers. While one could say the goalies were to blame, there have been a lot of goals scored by the most skilled from each lineup.
From the season series, Kamloops has three five-goal scorers in Logan Stankhoven, Orrin Centazzo, and Zane Franklin. The Giants also have a five-goal scorer in Tristen Nielsen. Connor Zary leads the way in points with 12 (4G, 8A) followed by Centazzo (5G,4A), Nielsen (5G,4A) and Franklin (5G,4A). It would be remiss not to mention Eric Florchuk who has three goals and four assists in just three games in this divisional battle.
With the Giants getting off to a slow start on the season, they do not have any scorers in the top-25 this season, while the Blazers have three and they are all in the top-10.
Franklin leads the way for the Blazers with 84 points, good for fourth overall. Next up is the draft-eligible Zary, he has 77 points good for sixth overall. Last, but not least is Centazzo with 76 points, good for eighth. Centazzo has the second-most goals in the WHL this season with 42.
Top three scorers for the Giants include Nielsen, 62 points, 27th in WHL scoring. After coming over from the Blades, Eric Florchuk has stepped up his game and now has 55 points. Draft Eligible Justin Sourdif has 52 points.
Both teams have top-10 scoring defensemen. Bowen Byram has turned it on of late and climbed into eighth overall with 11 goals and 37 assists. Max Martin has been playing well all season long and has 12 goals and 43 assists for the Blazers, good enough for fourth overall.
Stankhoven has the longest point streak of all players in tonight’s game. He has 11 goals and three assists over his last seven games.
Starting netminder Dylan Garand (lower body) and defenseman Libor Zabransky (upper body) are both listed as day-to-day as of yesterday’s weekly report. The Giants have a trio of injuries currently. Goaltender David Tendeck is day-to-day, Krz Plummer is week-to-week, and Zack Ostapchuk is out indefinitely. All three have lower-body injuries. Drew Sim has been called up to back up Trent Miner.
Speaking of goaltenders, Trent Miner is expected to get this start in this all-important divisional battle. He’s 14-9-2-1 this season with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. Kamloops will go with Rayce Ramsay if Garand isn’t ready to go tonight. Ramsay is 11-8-1-0 this season with a 3.27 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage.
Kamloops has one of the most potent power plays in the WHL this season. They are second overall at 27.6% success. Vancouver has moved themselves from near the basement to 12th overall at 21.2%. Kamloops also does a masterful job killing off penalties, they are third overall at 84.0%, Vancouver is ninth at 80.3%
You can catch all the action tonight on WHL Live. Conversely you can tune into Dan O’Connor, the voice of the Vancouver Giants on Sportsnet 650 or Jon Keen, the radio voice of the Kamloops Blazers on Radio NL 610
In other WHL action (all times local):
Calgary Hitmen (34-22-4-1) @ Saskatoon Blades (31-23-2-3) 7:00 PM
Six points separate the two Eastern Conference wild card holders, as the Hitmen play the second game of a three-game road trip. They have hit a rough patch, losing three straight games. Saskatoon is in the mix in the East Division, they are just two points behind the Winnipeg ICE for third. With a point in tonight’s game, the Blades can clinch the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Spokane Chiefs (37-18-4-1) @ Edmonton Oil Kings (41-10-6-4) 7:00 PM
A potential WHL Final matchup, the Chiefs and Oil Kings will play their only game against each other this season. Spokane has won six games in a row and is heating up at the right time as the team heads down the playoff stretch. The Oil Kings have points in four straight and lead the Central Division by 11 points.
Tri-City Americans (17-36-4-2) @ Portland Winterhawks (42-11-3-4) 7:00 PM
Portland will need to continue their dominance over the Americans if they have any hope of regaining the top spot in the US Division. They are 6-0-0-0 against Tri-City, with tonight’s tilt and another on March 20th remaining. Tri-City is all but eliminated from the playoff picture. They are 13 points back with nine games to play and will need some help along the way.
Lethbridge Hurricanes (37-16-2-5) @ Prince George Cougars (17-34-4-4) 7:00 PM
The Hurricanes embark on their BC Division road trip just two points ahead of the Medicine Hat Tigers for second in the Central Division. The hill to climb for the division title is large, the gap between themselves and Edmonton is 11 points with eight games to play. Prince George is 11 points out of a playoff spot with nine games to play and will need their best play of the season to get into the post-season dance.
