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WHL Vancouver Giants

Giants' Slow Start Leads to 6-3 Loss to Cougars

March 10, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release


Vancouver Giants on the ice
Vancouver Giants on the ice
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: James Doyle)

Prince George, B.C. - The Prince George Cougars came flying out of the gate on Saturday night with four goals in less than eight minutes, ultimately leading to a 6-3 victory over the Vancouver Giants at the CN Centre.

Friday's loss sees the Giants' overall record dip to 29-29-4-0 (62 points), which places them in seventh place in the Western Conference Standings. Vancouver is now four points back of the fifth-place Kelowna Rockets (66 points) and three points back of the sixth-place Victoria Royals (65 points). The Giants have six games left on the schedule, four of which are at home, starting on Tuesday against the tenth-place Tri-City Americans.

Goaltender Matthew Hutchison was the storyline for the Giants on Saturday, as he stopped 30 of 32 shots in relief of Brett Mirwald. Providing the Giants goals on Saturday was Ty Halaburda (20th) - who reached the 20-goal plateau for the second straight year - rookie Jakob Oreskovic (3rd) and Adam Titlbach (8th). The Cougars got two goals each from Ondrej Becher and Zac Funk, plus single tallies from Riley Heidt and Matteo Danis.

GAME SUMMARY

The Cougars goals came fast and furious in this one, with Becher opening the scoring 1:19 into the contest off the rush with a wrist shot from the high slot.

Under three minutes later, Becher doubled the lead after he stole the puck in the Giants zone and ripped a shot from the left circle to make it 2-0.

Vancouver responded just a minute later when Logen Hammett found Halaburda in the slot, who went blocker side past Joshua Ravensbergen to cut the Cougars lead to 2-1.

Prince George went right back to work, scoring a pair of goals within a span of 19 seconds just past the seven-minute mark to increase their lead from 2-1 to 4-1.

First, Keaton Dowhaniuk connected with Heidt on a back door feed, who was alone in front and put home his 34th of the season.

Then, Borya Valis won the puck on the boards and found Funk across the crease, feeding the WHL's leading goal-man for his 62nd of the season.

Funk scored his second of the night and 63rd of the season on a one-timer on the power play midway through the second to make it 5-1, just minutes before Danis shovelled home a rebound on the backend to make it 6-1 Prince George at 10:16 of the middle frame.

Vancouver did score twice in the third, first when Oreskovic fired a quick snapshot from the left dot that beat Ravensbergen short side and then when Titlbach finished off a pass from London Hoilett off the rush, but 6-3 eventually stood up as the final score.

THEY SAID IT

"We were flat to start...we lost our layers. We had guys that were out of position and then losing battles and before you know it, we're down a few real quick." - Associate Coach Adam Maglio on the game overall

"He was outstanding. I thought he did a really, really good job in a tough circumstance coming in, where we were in that game and how we were playing, and he kept us in it." Associate Coach Adam Maglio on the play of Matthew Hutchison

STATISTICS

SOG: VAN - 4/6/6 = 16 | PG - 17/17/5 = 39

PP: VAN- 0/2 | PG - 1/4

Face-Offs: VAN - 29 | PG - 24

3 STARS

1st: PG - Ondrej Becher - 2G, 1A, 5 SOG, +1

2nd: PG - Zac Funk - 2G, 1A, 6 SOG, +2

3rd: PG - Riley Heidt - 1G, 1A, 5 SOG, +1

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Vancouver: Loss - Brett Mirwald (3 saves / 7 shots) and Matthew Hutchison (30 saves / 32 shots)

Prince George: WIN - Joshua Ravensbergen (13 saves / 16 shots)

NEXT GAME:

The Giants have a busy week coming up, starting at home on Tuesday, March 12 against the Tri-City Americans at 7 p.m. On Friday, they host the Kamloops Blazers at the Langley Events Centre at 7 p.m., before hitting the road for a rematch with Kamloops on Saturday night at 6 p.m. On Sunday, they'll play their fourth game of the week against Prince George at home at 4 p.m.

Check out the Vancouver Giants Statistics




Images from this story

Vancouver Giants on the ice
Vancouver Giants on the ice
(James Doyle)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from March 10, 2024


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