WHL Vancouver Giants

Giants Grind Their Way to Another Point in Kelowna

Published on January 5, 2020 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release


Vancouver Giants left wing Zach Ostapchuk (10) celebrates a goal against the Kelowna Rockets
Vancouver Giants left wing Zach Ostapchuk (10) celebrates a goal against the Kelowna Rockets
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: Marissa Baecker)

Kelowna, B.C. - Saturday night in the Okanagan the Vancouver Giants (17-16-2-2) earned another hard-fought point in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Kelowna Rockets (20-14-1-2). Tristen Nielsen (18) and Holden Katzalay (1) supplied goals for the Giants while goaltender David Tendeck put forth another strong outing between the pipes stopping 34 shots fired his way. Pavel Novak and Liam Kindree responded with goals in regulation for Kelowna while Conner McDonald's goal in the third round of the shootout helped clinch Kelowna's first victory of the season against Vancouver. Roman Basran made 23 saves in the Kelowna net.

1st Period:

KEL -Liam Kindree (8) opened the scoring for Kelowna off a shot from the right-wing circle at 16:32. Jadon Joseph and Elias Carmichael both earned assists.

VAN - 25 seconds later the Giants responded when Holden Katzalay spun around in the high slot and backhanded his first WHL goal past Roman Basran. Seth Bafaro and Zack Ostapchuk supplied the assists.

Shots: 11-8 Vancouver

2nd Period:

No Scoring

Shots: 11-9 Kelowna

3rd Period:

VAN - Tristen Nielsen moved the Giants ahead 2-1 when his shot from the right-wing circle ripped past Roman Basran at 4:21. Connor Horning and Milos Roman both assisted on Nielsen's team-leading 18th goal.

KEL - Back came the Rockets at 11:04 when Pavel Novak parked himself in the left-wing circle and one-timed home a Conner McDonald cross-ice pass to tie the score.

Shots: 14-4 Kelowna

Overtime:

No Scoring

Shots: 3-1 Kelowna

Shootout:

KEL - Ethan Ernst - Miss

VAN - Justin Sourdif - Goal

KEL - Matthew Wedman - Goal

VAN - Cole Shepeard - Miss

KEL - Conner McDonald - Goal

VAN - Tristen Nielsen - Miss

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Final Score: Kelowna 3 - Vancouver 2 (Shootout)

Final Shots: 36 - 25 Kelowna

David Teneck: 34/36 saves for Vancouver (10-9-1-1)

Roman Basran: 23/25 saves for Kelowna (16-9-1-2)

Vancouver Power Play: 0/2

Kelowna Power Play: 0/1

3 Stars:

Conner McDonald (KEL - 1 Assist, Shootout Winner)

Trevor Wong (KEL - +!, 5 Shots)

Tristen Nielsen (VAN - 1 Goal)

Next Giants Game: Friday, January 10th in Spokane against the Chiefs at 7:05 PM.

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NOTES:

Vancouver's against Kelowna now sits at 3-0-0-1.

Over the course of their seven-game stretch of games against the B.C. Division, the Giants went 3-2-1-1.

The Giants went 0-0-1-1 during their two game weekend road trip against Kamloops and Kelowna.

David Tendeck stopped 79 of the 83 shots he faced this weekend for a save percentage of .951.

With a single point the Giants sit five points back of Kelowna for third in the B.C. Division standings.

Holden Katzalay was the seventh Giant this season to record his first WHL goal. The Giants are 6-0-0-1 this season when a player scores their first WHL goal.

The Giants road record now sits at 9-9-1-1.

Check out the Vancouver Giants Statistics

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Images from this story

Vancouver Giants centre Tristen Nielsen against the Kelowna Rockets
Vancouver Giants centre Tristen Nielsen against the Kelowna Rockets
(Marissa Baecker)		 Vancouver Giants defenceman Matt Barberis
Vancouver Giants defenceman Matt Barberis
(Marissa Baecker)		 Vancouver Giants left wing Zach Ostapchuk (10) celebrates a goal against the Kelowna Rockets
Vancouver Giants left wing Zach Ostapchuk (10) celebrates a goal against the Kelowna Rockets
(Marissa Baecker)



Western Hockey League Stories from January 5, 2020


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