Giants Fall 4-3 to the Royals During 2021 Chevrolet Teddy Bear Toss
December 11, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release
Vancouver Giants right wing Justin Lies (left) and centre Kaden Kohle during the Teddy Bear Toss
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: Rob Wilton)
Vancouver, B.C. - Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in front of 4411 strong the Vancouver Giants (13-9-1-0) dropped a dramatic 4-3 decision to the visiting Victoria Royals (7-11-2-0). Gannon Laroque's fourth goal of the season broke up a 3-3 tie with 2:06 to lead to the Royals to their second victory in as many tries against the Giants. Royals goaltender Campbell Arnold stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced. Fabian Lysell had two goals in response for the Giants who got 21 saves from Jesper Vikman.
1st Period:
VAN - 11:05 into the game, the Teddy Bears took to the ice courtesy of Fabian Lysell. The Boston Bruins prospect parked himself in the slot, took a feed from Ty Thorpe and wired home his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
VIC - Once the bears were cleared from the ice, the Royals didn't wait long to answer back. Just three minutes and 14 seconds later Brayden Schuurman tapped home a back-door feed from Bailey Peach on a Victoria power play to even the score. Gannon Laroque drew the second assist on the equalizer.
Shots: 11-7 Vancouver
2nd Period:
VIC - 6:21 into the middle frame, Bailey Peach (8) gave Victoria the lead when he finished off a Tarun Fizer feed off a two-on-one rush.
VAN - The G-Men answered at 14:07 and again it was Lysell. This time Lysell snuck to the left side of the Victoria goal and one-timed home a Connor Horning feed for his second goal of the night. Cole Shepard, in his first game of the season, earned the second helper.
VAN - 15 seconds later Mazden Leslie put the Giants up 3-2 off a blast from the right-wing point that zipped past Campbell Arnold. Leslie's third of the season was set up by Justin Lies and Evan Toth.
VIC - The Royals once again found an answer at 15:43. Keanu Derungs' snagged the Royals' second power play goal of the evening. The goal was announced as unassisted.
Shots: 15-9 Vancouver
3rd Period:
VAN - The lone goal of the third period came at 17:54 off the stick of San Jose Sharks prospect Gannon Laroque. Laroque's shot from the right-wing point snuck through traffic and through the legs of Jesper Vikman to help cement the victory for the Royals.
Shots: 14-9 Vancouver
GAME SUMMARY
Final Score: Victoria 4 - Vancouver 3
Final Shots: 40 - 25 Vancouver
Jesper Vikman: 22/25 saves for Vancouver
Campbell Arnold: 37/40 saves for Victoria
Victoria Power Play: 2/3
Vancouver Power Play: 0/3
3 Stars:
1) Fabian Lysell (VAN - 2G)
2) Bailey Peach (VIC - 1G, 1A)
3) Alex Cotton (VAN - 7 Shots)
Next Giants Game: A rematch with the Victoria Royals tomorrow night on the Island at 7:05 PM.
NOTES
- Fabian Lysell became the second European-born Giant to score the Teddy Bear goal, and the second European in a row to score the big goal. In 2019 Michal Kvasnica (Czech Republic) recorded his first goal as a Giant in a Teddy Bear victory over Tri-City on December 8.
- Cole Shepard made his season debut for the Vancouver Giants. The 2002-born forward recorded an assist, a +2 rating and one shot on goal.
- The Giants are now 1-2 on the season against Victoria and are 0-2 against them on home ice.
- The Giants home record now sits at 6-5.
- Friday night's game marked just the second game in a span of nine where the Giants did not score a power play goal.
- The crowd of 4411 was the largest of the season to date for the Vancouver Giants.
Images from this story
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