Sports stats



WHL Vancouver Giants

Giants Get Offence Rolling But Fall 6-5 to Rockets

October 22, 2023 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release


Vancouver Giants battle the Kelowna Rockets
Vancouver Giants battle the Kelowna Rockets
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: Steve Dunsmoor/Kelowna Rockets)

Kelowna, BC - The Vancouver Giants lost 6-5 to the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday night at Prospera Place.

With the loss, the Giants fall to 2-5-1-0 this season.

Five different G-Men found the back of the net: Kyren Gronick, Adam Titlbach, Mazden Leslie, Ty Halaburda and Tyler Thorpe. Matthew Hutchison was making his first of the season in goal and finished with 28 saves.

Kelowna got a pair of goals from Tij Iginla, plus tallies from Andrew Cristall, Dylan Wightman, Marek Rocak and Gabriel Szturc.

GAME SUMMARY:

The Rockets got out to a 2-0 lead six minutes into the game, thanks to goals from Andrew Cristall and Tij Iginla.

Before the first period was done, Kyren Gronick got the Giants on the board with his third of the season, firing a shot off the post and in on a 3-on-2 rush.

Vancouver started the second period by quickly tying the game, thanks to a strong individual effort from Adam Titlbach, who buried his third of the season. At the 7:17 mark of the second, the G-Men grabbed their first lead of the game, after Mazden Leslie got his first goal of the season, scoring on the power play.

The Rockets then pushed back, scoring a pair before the intermission, first Dylan Wightman on the power play, and then Marek Rocak off a long scramble in front, making the score 4-3 for Kelowna.

Ty Halaburda got the Giants back even by scoring a shorthanded goal off the rush 2:58 into the third period.

The Rockets scored twice in a span of 2:06 to get out to a 6-4 lead midway through the third, with Iginla potting his second of the night and then captain Gabriel Szturc doubling their lead with his fourth goal of the campaign.

With the goalie pulled, Vancouver got to within one off a deflection from Tyler Thorpe with 3:52 left in the game, but that was as close as the Giants would get.

STATISTICS

SOG: VAN - 11/14/14 = 39 | KEL - 14/13/7 = 34

PP: VAN - 1/3 | KEL - 2/6

Face-Offs: VAN - 28 | KEL - 30

3 STARS

1st: KEL - Tij Iginla - 2G, 2A, 5 SOG

2nd: KEL - Andrew Cristall - 1G, 2A, 10 SOG

3rd: VAN - Mazden Leslie - 1G, 1A, 9 SOG

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Vancouver: Loss - Matthew Hutchison (28 saves / 34 shots)

Kelowna: Win - Jari Kykkanen (34 saves / 39 shots)

NOTEWORTHY:

10 different Giants recorded a point on Saturday

This was the most goals Vancouver has scored since Oct. 1

NEXT GAME:

The Giants 3-in-3 wraps on Sunday with their Referee Appreciation Night at 4 p.m. vs. the Spokane Chiefs.

Check out the Vancouver Giants Statistics




Images from this story

Vancouver Giants battle the Kelowna Rockets
Vancouver Giants battle the Kelowna Rockets
(Steve Dunsmoor/Kelowna Rockets)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from October 22, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central