Oil Kings Score Twice Late to Sneak Past Giants 5-4
October 14, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release
Vancouver Giants right wing Cameron Schmidt
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: Andy Devlin/Edmonton Oil Kings)
Edmonton, Alta. - Blake Fiddler and Adam Jecho scored goals 18 seconds apart late in the third period of Monday's matinee to propel the Edmonton Oil Kings past the Vancouver Giants 5-4.
The loss drops the Giants record to 5-4-0-0. They finish their five-game Alberta road trip with a 2-3 record.
Vancouver got another two tallies from draft eligible forward Cameron Schmidt, who leads the Western Hockey League in goals with 11. Ty Halaburda also scored a beautiful goal to tie the game 3-3, while Adam Titlbach scored early in the first for the Giants.
Similar to Saturday's loss in Medicine Hat, the Giants got into some penalty trouble with a 4-3 lead. They managed to kill off a tripping penalty with eight minutes left, but that same penalty killing unit was then stuck on the ice, which led to Fiddler's 4-4 goal. The Giants were then called for a bench minor, which led to Jecho's game-winning power play marker with 5:25 left in the game.
Matthew Hutchison was very busy on Monday, holding the Giants in the game early on with 16 first period saves. He finished with 33 stops.
Jecho had two goals for the Oil Kings, while Fiddler, Landon Hanson and Mirolsav Holinka had the other Oil Kings tallies.
GAME SUMMARY
The Giants came out sluggish - with Edmonton getting some high quality looks early - but Titlbach gave the Giants a 1-0 lead just 3:27 into the game when he chipped the puck from below the goal line off the back of goaltender Alex Worthington and in for his third goal of the season.
Edmonton responded less than two minutes later when Holinka took a drop feed from Gavin Hodnett and ripped one home from the slot.
Schmidt put the Giants back out in front 2-1 at the 8:38 mark after he received a diving pass from Aaron Obobaifo that left him uncovered in the slot off the rush, where he quickly went glove side just under the crossbar.
Edmonton responded by tying the game 2-2 before the first period ended, off the stick of Landon Hanson.
The Oil Kings grabbed their first lead of the game 7:08 into period two on a goal off the rush, when Lukas Sawchyn connected with Jecho on a cross-crease feed.
After some big stops from Hutchison kept the deficit at one, Halaburda evened the score on a great individual effort, when he entered the offensive zone down the left wing and powered his way to the front of the net, before chipping in his fourth goal of the season.
Just 1:27 after Halaburda's goal, Schmidt scored his second of the game off a centering pass from Ryan Lin, who picked up his 11th assist of the season.
The third period was even between both sides, and the trouble for Vancouver only came late with some penalties, which led to Fiddler's game-tying goal and then Jecho's game-winner 18 seconds later.
The Giants did have some good looks with the goaltender pulled, but couldn't find the equalizer.
Vancouver forward Aaron Obobaifo left Monday's game with an upper body injury. The extent of his injury is not yet known at this time.
STATISTICS
SOG: VAN - 8/14/9 = 31 | EDM - 18/11/9 = 38
PP: VAN- 0/4 | EDM - 1/7
Face-Offs: VAN - 30 | EDM - 26
THEY SAID IT
"I thought we started a little flat today and then we got our legs going. We liked a lot of our game as we started to get going and then a few penalties late in the game sunk the momentum. Credit our guys - it's been a long trip. I liked how we rebounded there in the second and got our legs going...We weren't consistent through shift to shift, but we gave ourselves a chance to win. Unfortunately we don't get it today. We need to learn from it. This is the way the Western League works. You're going to have long trips, you're going to have some tough games, afternoon games, and we just need to continue to grow and improve...I thought we played well overall this trip. I think there's a lot of little moments where we need to learn: some clock management, some discipline, but I thought overall we did a lot of good things over the last five games." - Giants Associate Coach Adam Maglio
3 STARS
1st: EDM - Lukas Sawchyn - 2A, 3 SOG
2nd: VAN - Cameron Schmidt - 2G, 5 SOG
3rd: EDM - Adam Jecho - 2G, 7 SOG
BY THE NUMBERS
Cameron Schmidt leads the WHL in goals with 11, and is T-3rd in points with 15
The Giants have six players with at least a point-per-game (Schmidt, Lin, Leslie, Obobaifo, Zimmer, Halaburda)
Ryan Lin's 11 assists are T-2nd in the WHL
GOALTENDING BATTLE
Vancouver: LOSS - Matthew Hutchison (33 saves / 38 shots)
Edmonton: WIN - Alex Worthington (27 saves / 31 shots)
UP NEXT
Date Opponent Time Location
Saturday, October 19 Prince Albert 7 PM PT Langley Events Centre
Sunday, October 20 Wenatchee Wild 4 PM PT Town Toyota Center
Friday, October 25 Spokane Chiefs 7:05 PM PT Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
Giants season tickets and flex packs are NOW ON SALE! Season ticket packages start as low as $17.20 per game and include the first two home playoff games, plus a free subscription to WHL Live. Flex packs start at just $135 and come in six or 12-ticket packs. Call the Giants Office at 604.4.GIANTS (+1 (604) 444-2687) or contact the Giants at: sales@vancouvergiants.com.
Images from this story
 Vancouver Giants right wing Ty Halaburda (Andy Devlin/Edmonton Oil Kings) |
 Vancouver Giants defenceman Mazden Leslie vs. the Edmonton Oil Kings (Andy Devlin/Edmonton Oil Kings) |
 Vancouver Giants defenceman Marek Howell (center) vs. the Edmonton Oil Kings (Andy Devlin/Edmonton Oil Kings) |
 Vancouver Giants right wing Cameron Schmidt (Andy Devlin/Edmonton Oil Kings) |
• Discuss this story on the Western Hockey League message board...
Western Hockey League Stories from October 14, 2024
- Rockets Get Goals From Seven Different Players In Thanksgiving Victory Over Prince Albert - Kelowna Rockets
- Hitmen Shut out Cougars - Calgary Hitmen
- Oil Kings Score Twice Late to Sneak Past Giants 5-4 - Vancouver Giants
- Oil Kings Defeat Giants in Instant Classic on Thanksgiving - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Moose Jaw's Deichert Set to Make WHL Debut on Tuesday - Moose Jaw Warriors
- Winterhawks Weekly: Hawks Back on Home Ice After Splitting Four-Game Roadie - Portland Winterhawks
- Tigers Announce 2024-25 Leadership Group - Medicine Hat Tigers
- Oil Kings and Giants Set for Thanksgiving Matinee in Edmonton - Edmonton Oil Kings
- Americans down Blazers for second straight night - Tri-City Americans
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.
