Game Day Report: Blazers Host Giants
Published on February 27, 2016 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Kamloops Blazers News Release
The Blazers will play their first of four consecutive home games tonight against the Vancouver Giants, which will be the second game in as many nights for both teams.
Kamloops (28-24-5-4) is coming off a 3-2 victory in overtime last night against the Everett Silvertips. Deven Sideroff scored the overtime winner and Connor Ingram made 34 saves in the win. It also marked Blazers Head Coach Don Hay's 200th win behind the team's bench.
Vancouver (23-33-5-2), meanwhile, was beaten 4-3 at home at the hands of the league-leading Kelowna Rockets last night. The Giants sit 12 points back of the eighth-place Blazers in the Western Conference with nine games remaining on their schedule.
While Kamloops (65 points, 61 games) picked up a crucial two points on Friday night, they got some help on the scoreboard, as Spokane (66 points, 61 games) and Tri-City (61 points, 60 games), both lost in regulation, while Portland (66 points, 62 games), fell in overtime.
"We don't worry about anybody else; we worry about ourselves, and we came in [to Everett] and did our jobs", Blazers Assistant Coach Mike Needham said post-game on Radio NL. "Karma sometimes is funny and the teams behind us all lost."
The Blazers had previously lost three straight games before last night's win in Everett to conclude their four-game road trip. They'll look to pick up more important points tonight against the Giants, having points in all six matchups between the teams thus far on the year (3-0-2-1). Kamloops also has three straight wins at home heading into tonight's tilt.
"We need to get our rest and be prepared to start. We've been really good at home; we feed off our energy from our crowd as well", Needham said. "The focus for us, we want to be leading the game after the first period, and that means energy early."
The Blazers jumped out to 2-0 lead en route to last night's win against the Silvertips; they previously had allowed the first goal in five straight games. Captain Matt Needham will also return after serving a one-game suspension on Friday night. Needham was given a five minute major and a game misconduct at 1:52 of the first period against the Giants on Feb. 21st for kneeing Dmitry Osipov.
Puck drop tonight is at 7:00pm at the Sandman Centre.
Western Hockey League Stories from February 27, 2016
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- Pats lose to Blades - Regina Pats
- Hitmen clinch a playoff spot for the fifth straight season - Calgary Hitmen
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- Baillie Hits 300 Points: Rockets over Giants 4-3 - Kelowna Rockets
- Kelowna gets past Vancouver - Kelowna Rockets
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