Jesper Vikman's 39 Saves Lead the Giants to Their Fourth Straight Home Win
November 7, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release
Vancouver Giants celebrate a goal vs. the Portland Winterhawks
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: Rob Wilton)
Vancouver, B.C. - Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in front of nearly 3300-strong, the Vancouver Giants (6-2-1-0) earned their fourth straight win at home after a 3-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks (5-7-0-1). Connor Horning, Ty Thorpe and Nicco Camazzola all scored within a 2:05 span in the first period to stake the Giants to their lead and goaltender Jesper Vikman did the rest. The Vegas Golden Knights prospect stopped 39 of the 40 shots he faced to secure his fifth win of the season. James Stefan had the lone tally in response for the Portland Winterhawks which came late In the third period. Portland got 26 saves combined from goaltenders Dante Giannuzzi and Lochlan Gordon.
1st Period
VAN - Connor Horning opened the scoring for the Giants at 10:18 on a power play. Horning snuck in close to the slot, took a backhand feed from Ty Halaburda and roofed his fourth goal of the season over Dante GIannuzzi's left shoulder. Ty Halaburda and Adam Hall both earned assists.
VAN - 56 seconds later Ty Thorpe increased the Giants lead to 2-0 with his fifth goal of the season. Fabian Lysell and Brenden Pentecost drew the helpers as Thorpe increased his point-streak to six games.
VAN - Nicco Camazzola then got in on the act when he wired his shot from the left-wing point past Dante Giannuzzi. Ty Thorpe and Fabian Lysell both earned their second points of the night with asissts on Camazzola's second of the season.
*Portland goaltender Dante Giannuzzi was pulled in favour of Lochlan Gordon.
Shots: 17-9
2nd Period
No Scoring
Shots: 12-8 Portland
3rd Period
POR - James Stefan broke up Jesper Vikman's shutout bid at 17:21 of the final period on the 40th Winterhawks shot of the night. It came on a power play and was set up by a slick pass from Gabe Klassen.
Shots: 12-11 Vancouver
GAME SUMMARY
Final Score: Vancouver 3 - Portland 1
Final Shots: Portland 40 - Vancouver 29
Jesper Vikman: 39/40 Saves for Vancouver
Dante Giannuzzi: 5/8 Saves for Portland
Lochlan Gordon: 21/21 Saves on Portland
Vancouver Power Play: 1/4
Portland Power Play: 1/5
3 Stars:
1) Jesper Vikman (VAN - 39 Saves)
2) Connor Horning (VAN - 1G, +1)
3) Lochlan Gordon (VAN - 21 Saves)
Next Giants Game: Tuesday night at 7:00 PM in Prince George against the Cougars.
NOTES:
- Jesper Vikman's 39 saves on the night were a new season high. His record now sits at 5-1-1-0 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
- Ty Thorpe's six-game point streak has now yielded four goals and four assists for eight points. It's the longest point-streak of his WHL career.
- In his past four games, Fabian Lysell has posted one goal and six assists for seven points.
- Over the course of his last four games, Giants defenceman Connor Horning has managed three goals and two assists for five points.
Images from this story
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