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WHL Vancouver Giants

Giants Rally Again, Climb Out of 6-3 Hole to Top Royals in OT

January 28, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release


Victoria, B.C. - For the second consecutive night, against the very same opponent, the Vancouver Giants made an unlikely comeback.

This time, the Giants rallied from a 5-1 deficit, and later a 6-3 deficit, to tie the game, force overtime, and then win the game 7-6 over the Victoria Royals with 11.7 seconds left in the extra frame. Giants forward Tyson Zimmer had the overtime winner, just one night after scoring the game-winning-goal on home ice.

The Giants are now 7-3 since the calendar switched to 2024, while their overall record improves to 20-24-2-0. Victoria falls to 24-16-4-3 this season.

Vancouver got a hat-trick from Connor Levis (12th, 13th, 14th), plus goals from Tyler Thorpe (22nd), Mazden Leslie (11th), Adam Titlbach (6th) and Zimmer (15th).

Victoria got two goals each from Justin Kipkie and Tyson Laventure, plus a goal each from Reggie Newman and Caper Evansen Haugen.

GAME SUMMARY:

This game was filled with drama.

It started with the teams exchanging goals in the first minute.

Kipkie got things started 33 seconds in when the defenceman broke in alone and potted his 14th of the season.

Just 14 seconds later, Schmidt used his speed to enter the offensive zone on the left side and then fed a pass from the corner out front to Levis, who redirected it in to tie the game 1-1.

Kipkie would score his second of the period on the power play at the 7:47 mark of the first to give the Royals a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.

In the second, Victoria struck three times in a span of 4:14.

First, Laventure netted his 19th of the season just over five minutes into the middle period to make it 3-1. Then, Newman deflected in a shot on the power play to make it 4-1. Just 1:25 after that, Laventure would score on another power play to make it 5-1.

Vancouver would respond with a pair of goals before the second period concluded.

Levis potted his second of the game after Colton Robert's blast was blocked and the puck ricocheted right to him. He quickly fired it on goal where Kraus almost made the save, but it bounced off his blocker and in.

Just 1:17 after Levis made it 5-2, Titlbach made a strong play behind the net to get free of a check and found Thorpe in the right circle, who quickly one-timed it past Jayden Kraus to cut the Royals' lead to just two.

With 3:58 left in the period, Victoria got one back off the stick of Evensen Haugen on a 2-on-1 to restore their three-goal advantage heading into the third period.

Early in that third, Leslie let a wrist shot go from the point that snuck through to make it 6-4.

Less than two minutes later, London Hoilett sprung Titlbach for a partial break, where the Czech forward decided to try to find Hoilett with a return pass, as he was heading to the net. The puck deflected off the diving Royals defenceman Kipkie and into his own net, just as he took the net off its moorings. The play was reviewed, as the referee initially waved off the goal, but after a lengthy discussion with the off-ice officials, it was determined that the goal was indeed legal, making the score 6-5.

The Giants would find the equalizer on the power play at the 10:25 mark of the third, after Zimmer found Levis all alone on the back door. The Vancouver, B.C. product made no mistake to complete the hat-trick and tie the game 6-6.

Vancouver faced more adversity when they were called for tripping in the dying seconds of regulation, but they killed off the penalty to begin overtime and then defended well during the ensuing 4-on-4 play.

After an erred pass from Kipkie in the neutral zone, Leslie led the rush up ice on the right wing, put on the brakes and pass across to Zimmer at the left circle, who quickly fired a snap shot one-timer past Holt and into the back of the net to complete the comeback with just 11.7 seconds left in the overtime period.

STATISTICS

SOG: VAN - 11/16/11/3 = 41 | VIC - 6/12/4/3 = 25

PP: VAN - 2/4 | VIC - 3/4

Face-Offs: VAN - 30 | VIC - 28

3 STARS

1st: VAN - Connor Levis - 3G, 4 SOG

2nd: VAN - Adam Titlbach - 1G, 2A, 4 SOG

3rd: VIC - Tyson Laventure - 2G, 1A, 4 SOG

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Vancouver: WIN - Brett Mirwald (Relief - 7 saves / 7 shots); Matthew Hutchison (12 saves / 18 shots)

Victoria: Loss - Braden Holt (Relief - 7 saves / 10 shots); Jayden Kraus (27 saves / 31 shots)

NEXT GAME:

The Giants wrap up the three-in-three on Sunday afternoon against the Royals at 3:05 p.m.

The team's next home games are Friday, Feb. 2 against Prince George and Saturday, Feb. 3 against Everett.

Check out the Vancouver Giants Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from January 28, 2024


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