GIANTS BEAT WARRIORS 5-3

With the Vancouver Giants on their eastern road trip we received the following from Giants play by play Nathan Kanter.

Enjoy the read:

Jaw opened the scoring off the rush just past the halfway point of the first period, when Nagel went to the net and put home a rebound off Hood’s left pad.

Oreskovic then drew a penalty that led to a Halaburda power play goal less than two minutes later.

Lakovic scored on a breakaway 32 seconds after Halaburda tied the game, giving the Warriors a 2-1 lead at the 12:49 mark of the first period.

Another Moose Jaw penalty a few minutes later resulted in another Giants power play goal, and yet again it was courtesy of Halaburda. 

His first was a shot from the bottom of the right circle that caught former teammate Matthew Hutchison off guard, but this time he slammed home a rebound after Cameron Schmidt drew all the attention to him before firing the puck on goal from the top of the left circle.

When the first period came to a close, the score was 2-2.

Oreskovic gave the Giants their first lead of the game 3:40 into the second period, after a great net drive from Aaron Obobaifo. 

Rookie Richard Wonyeneh picked up his first career WHL point with a secondary assist.

Late in the period, Chorney extended Vancouver’s lead to 4-2 after getting a stretch pass at the offensive blue line from Lin. 

Chorney had just enough for a partial break, and did well to protect the puck from the defenceman who caught him, before shovelling the puck past Hutchison along the ice.

Carter got the Warriors to within a goal with a power play marker midway through the third period, but that was as close as they’d come.

Tomik scored into the empty net with 11 seconds remaining to make the final score 5-3.

THEY SAID IT

“We’re very proud of the group. They battled through a lot last game. Obviously we felt like we deserved better there with the Swift Current game…We got off to a good start in the game and just stuck to it. 

We had a great second period, which has been our downfall to start the year, so it was awesome to see. A lot of guys stepped up and played like men.”  – Giants Assistant Coach Gaelan Patterson

“Knowing the situation – being aware of what’s going on on the ice [was key]. I think everyone tonight was a student on the bench. Sometimes junior hockey players can get distracted, but they kept their focus on the game and everyone was ready to go right when they got on the ice.” – Giants Assistant Coach Gaelan Patterson

“At the end of the day it’s stepping up and playing like a pro. I have to shout out Marek Howell. Led the way with [blocking shots] – ate some tough shots and that really got us by obviously. He really stepped up and it’s awesome for the group. Guys were so excited on the bench. It was great to see.” – Giants Assistant Coach Gaelan Patterson

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL POST-GAME INTERVIEW

STATISTICS

SOG: VAN —14/8/4 = 26 | MJ – 8/10/10 = 28
PP: VAN—2/5 | MJ — 1/4
Face-Offs: VAN — 31 | MJ — 32

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Vancouver: WIN – Burke Hood (25 saves / 28 shots)
Moose Jaw: LOSS – Matthew Hutchison (21 saves / 25 shots )

UPCOMING

The Giants continue their East Division road trip on Tuesday night in Saskatoon, with puck drop scheduled for 6 p.m. PDT against the Blades. 

The following night they face the Prince Albert Raiders at 6 p.m. PDT.

Vancouver finishes their road trip with games in Brandon and Regina next Friday and Saturday.