Sports stats



WHL Vancouver Giants

Giants Return to the Win Column with a 4-2 Road Victory over the Royals

January 22, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release


Victoria, B.C. - Friday night on Vancouver Island the Vancouver Giants (16-17-2-0) secured a 4-2 road victory over the Victoria Royals (12-19-4-0). Fabian Lysell (1G, 2A) paced the Giants attack with three points while Cole Shepard, Connor Horning and Zack Ostapchuk all added goals. Victoria countered with goals from Riley Gannon and Austin Zemlak. The Giants peppered the Victoria goal with 38 shots while the Royals countered with 19 on Jesper Vikman.

1st Period:

VAN - Cole Shepard (4) opened the scoring for the Giants off a tic-tac-toe passing play. 6:30 waas the time of the goal as Fabian Lysell and Alex Cotton combine for the assists in what was a strong start to the game for the road side.

VIC - Riley Gannon answered for Victoria off a centering feed from the right-wing. Gannon snuck by a couple of Giants defenders, stood in the slot and one-timed an Evan Patrician feed home for his 11th.

Shots: 9-8 Victoria

2nd Period:

VAN - Fabian Lysell restored the Giants lead for the Giants at 9:42 when he finished off a Cole Shepard pass of a Victoria turnover in the far corner of their zone. For Lysell it was his team-leading 12th goal of the season.

Shots: 16-4 Vancouver

3rd Period:

VAN - At 7:27 of the final period, Connor Horning's point shot switched directions of a Royals defender and bounced past a sprawled Campbell Arnold and in. Horning's eighth goal of the season was set up by newcomer Tom Cadieux and Fabian Lysell.

VIC - At 14:04, Rookie Austin Zemlak moved the Royals back within one when he fired his first career WHL goal past Jesper Vikman from the left-wing circle. The lone assist on the play was credited to Tanner Scott.

VAN - Zack Ostapchuk (9) ended all hopes of a Victoria comeback at 19:10 when he iced the game with an empty net goal from the right-wing off the rush. Ty Thorpe started the play with a defensive shot block, before sending Ostapchuk on his way down the right wing.

Shots: 14-6

GAME SUMMARY

Final Score: Vancouver 4 - Victoria 2

Final Shots: 38 - 19 Vancouver

Jesper Vikman: 17/19 saves for Vancouver

Campbell Arnold: 34/37 saves for Victoria

Vancouver Power Play: 0/3

Victoria Power Play: 0/4

3 Stars:

1) Cole Shepard (VAN - 1G, 1A)

2) Fabian Lysell (VAN - 1G, 2A)

3) Austin Zemlak (VIC - 1G)

Next Giants Game: A Wednesday road tilt on Wednesday in Kamloops at 7:00 PM.

NOTES

- The Vancouver Giants jumped six points ahead of Victoria for seventh place in the Western Conference playoff standings, and are now just two points shy of Prince George for sixth after Friday's victory.

- Friday's game was Fabian Lysell's ninth multi-point game of the season.

- The Giants improved their road record to 8-9-1-0 with Friday's win.

- With his eighth goal of the season, Giants defenceman Connor Horning has now matched his previous season high for goals which he set during the 2018-19 season with the Swift Current Broncos.

Check out the Vancouver Giants Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from January 22, 2022


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