(Everett, WA) The Vancouver Giants defeated the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 on Saturday afternoon in a shootout as the WHL preseason continued at the Angel of the Winds Arena.
Joel Hofer started his second game of the preseason for the Winterhawks and was busy in his 20 minutes of game action.
“We came out not the greatest in the first (period),” Winterhawks forward Tyson Kozak said. “Hofer stood on his head for us, and then Dante came in the second and third playing really well I thought.”
The Winterhawks played several players who are still getting used to the speed of the WHL
Portland’s head coach Mike Johnston commented, “There is just so many young kids in the lineup. It is about evaluation at this time of the year; it is about getting some experience. It is experience against a pretty good team that went to the conference finals (last year). They had the better of the shots, but they also had eight power plays.”
The Giants outshot the Winterhawks 43-23 through regulation.
After the opening period Dante Giannuzzi entered the game for Portland.
“Coming in after the first period, going to play the second, and I’m coming off the bench; I’m not exactly warm,” the Winnipeg, Manitoba native described. “You just try to stay in the game as much as you can and kind of see what the players are doing from the bench and see what some tendencies are; see what you’re getting into.”
In his first minutes of the preseason, Giannuzzi faced 12 Vancouver shots stopping 11.
“Once you’re in the game, you obviously keep looking towards that stuff, I tried to use that to my advantage. Obviously the game didn’t go as planned. Overall, I thought there was some good takeaways from the game and a good practice in the preseason.”
Mason Mannek and Jacob Gendron traded goals less than two minutes apart before Jaydon Dureau gave the Winterhawks the lead heading to the third period.
Overage Giants forward Brayden Watts tied the game, but just like the second period, Portland responded shortly thereafter.
Winterhawks 17-year-old forward Tyson Kozak scored his first of the preseason. “I was driving the net and then saw Cross Hanas just poke it out in the middle. I just tried to put it on net. It just so happened to go in.”
Earlier in the game Kozak assisted on Mannek’s goal. Kozak credited his preseason success to the time he had with the Winterhawks a season ago. “I’m just feeling really good this year. I had a little bit of experience last year, so coming in with confidence and feeling good.”
Watts netted his second goal of the game, this time on the power play, as the last ten minutes of regulation and overtime finished with five penalties being called.
The Giants had a chance to win the game in regulation as they had a five-on-three man advantage, but Portland’s penalty killers, led by Giannuzzi, got the Winterhawks to overtime.
The 17-year-old netminder credited his teammates in front of him, “That was a big, big penalty kill there. (Made) a couple of saves, but there were at least five block shots too. Definitely more work from the team than me. Guys are always sacrificing the body, so I really appreciate that. Whenever you can kill a penalty it feels really good. I think everyone kind of strives to do that.”
Johnston commented on the special teams battle, “We had a five-on-three and killed a five-on-three at the end of the (regulation). We had more experienced killers in the game than we had power play guys. I thought they did a good job on the kill and against a decent team. They don’t have all their guys, but they had a lot of experience in the lineup. In the overtime, I would have liked to capitalize on our four-on-three and five-on-three, that’s key. Those are moments you can really capitalize on.”
Kozak talked about how there were significant portions of the game played on the power play or penalty kill. “It was tough for some guys that don’t get to go out. I think everybody stepped up really well on special teams though.”
With neither team scoring in overtime, an overtime where no three-on-three was witnessed, Portland and Vancouver got their first crack at a shootout.
Justin Sourdif scored the lone shootout goal to give the Giants a 4-3 victory over the Winterhawks.
Tent Miner, a Colorado Avalanche 2019 NHL draft selection, played the entire game for Vancouver turning away 25-of-28 Portland shots.
Giannuzzi finished with 28 saves on 31 shots in 45 minutes of work.
“Any playing time is good for me,” Dante expressed. “I just want to try and get in the net and play my game and hopefully get some wins.”
The Giants and Winterhawks wrap up their first weekend of preseason action tomorrow. Vancouver plays the early game, 11:30 AM, while Portland plays at 3:00 PM.
