Giants Erase a Three-Goal Third Period Deficit to Earn 11th Straight Win
February 22, 2020 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release
Vancouver Giants get slammed against the boards by the Calgary Hitmen
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: Gary Ahuja)
Vancouver, B.C. - In front of 4139 strong on Friday night, the Vancouver Giants completed one of their most thrilling victories in recent memory to extend their winning streak to a franchise record-tying 11 straight (regular season) games. Michael Dyck's Giants (30-20-3-2) scored four unanswered goals in the third period to erase a 5-2 deficit and give themselves a 6-5 victory over the Calgary Hitmen. Justin Sourdif led the Giants with three goals, including the tying and winning markers. Bowen Byram (1G, 2A) and Tristen Nielsen (3A) also added three point nights for the Giants who are now ranked second in the B.C. Division standings. Luke Prokop responded with two goals for Calgary while three others had multi-point games.
1st Period:
CGY - Kyle Olson (10) put Calgary ahead 1-0 on a back-door tap in at 4:36.
CGY - Mark Kastelic tipped home a Jett Woo point-shot for his 33rd goal of the season at 7:29.
CGY - 11 seconds later, Luke Prokop (2) scored off the rush to give the Hitmen a 3-0 lead.
VAN - Eric Florchuk (20) buried a shot from the right-wing off the rush to put the Giants on the board.
VAN - 34 seconds later Justin Sourdif (22) converted off a cross-ice feed from Bowen Byram to move Vancouver within a goal.
Shots; 13-12 Calgary
2nd Period:
CGY - Luke Prokop followed up a Riley Stotts rebound and knocked home his second of the night at 9:54 to make it a 4-2 lead for Calgary.
*Calgary's Riley Fiddler-Schultz was stopped on a penalty shot by David Tendeck at 11:35 of the second period.
CGY - With 36 seconds left in the period, Orca Wiesblatt knocked a bouncing puck past David Tendeck in the slot to give Calgary the 5-2 cushion.
Shots: 13-10 Calgary
3rd Period:
VAN - Bowen Byram (10) kicked off the Giants comeback bid at 4:47 off a shot from a tough angle along the left-wing that beat Jack McNaughton up high.
VAN - Tyler Preziuso (23) then moved the Giants back within a goal at 9:31 on a power play.
VAN - Justin Sourdif (23) one-timed home a feed from Connor Horning from behind the net at 11:29 to tie the game at 5-5.
VAN - Sourdif then completed his hat-trick and the comeback for the Giants with a breakaway goal at 15:53. The Giants would not relinquish their 6-5 cushion despite a valiant pushback from the Hitmen in the late stages of the game.
Shots: 10-10
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Final Score: Vancouver 6 - Calgary 5
Final Shots: 36 - 32 Calgary
David Tendeck: 31/36 saves for Vancouver (18-13-1-1)
Jack McNaughton: 26/32 saves for Calgary (17-7-1-1)
Vancouver Power Play: 1/3
Calgary Power Play: 1/2
3 Stars:
Justin Sourdif (VAN - 3 Goals)
Bowen Byram (VAN - 1 Goal, 2 Assists)
Mark Kastelic (CGY - 1 Goal, 1 Assist)
Next Game: The Giants look for their 12th straight win tomorrow night when they head to Everett to face the Silvertips at 7:05 PM.
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NOTES:
Saturday's victory gives the Giants 11 straight victories, matching the longest (regular season) winning streak in franchise history. The Giants previously won 11 in a row during the 2008-09 season.
Eric Florchuk (12 games), Bowen Byram (10 games), Justin Sourdif (10 games), Tristen Nielsen (6 games) all extended their lengthy point streaks on Friday night.
David Tendeck has now won each of his past seven starts for Vancouver.
With the win the Giants now have 65 points and are ranked second in the B.C. Division standings. The Victoria Royals also have 65 points, but they have played in two more games than the Giants have.
Vancouver's power play has now scored in 11 of the past 12 games. Since the trade deadline the power play has gone 26/65.
Images from this story
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