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Vancouver Giants

Winterhawks Defeat Giants 8-3 in Penalty-Filled Affair

February 18, 2024 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release


Vancouver Giants' Cameron Schmidt in action
Vancouver Giants' Cameron Schmidt in action
(Vancouver Giants, Credit: Keith Dwiggins)

Portland, OR - The Portland Winterhawks took down the Vancouver Giants 8-3 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday night in a game that saw the two clubs combine for 116 minutes in penalties and nearly 20 power plays.

The loss for Vancouver means their six-game win streak comes to an end, as does their 10-game point streak. The Giants overall record is now 26-25-3-0 this season, still good for sixth place in the Western Conference.

Scoring for Vancouver on Saturday was Cameron Schmidt (18th), Ty Halaburda (17th) and Tyson Zimmer (18th).

Portland got two goals from James Stefan, including his 100th career WHL goal, plus two from Kyle Chyzowski, as well as single tallies from Nate Danielson, Kyle McDonough, Luca Cagnoni and Diego Buttazoni.

GAME SUMMARY

Portland got out to a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes and a 7-0 advantage after 40 minutes.

Stefan and Chyzowski scored 28 seconds apart just past the five-minute mark of the first period, first on a shot from the bottom of the left circle at 5-on-5 and then on a net drive with a backhander that went upstairs on the power play.

Danielson would also score in the first, just before the halfway mark of the period, by throwing one to the net from a similar spot as Stefan's game-opener.

The Giants had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:27 early in the second but couldn't score on either opportunity.

Right after Portland killed them off, they scored two quick ones.

Stefan potted his second of the game off the rush to make it 4-0 and then 1:02 later McDonough made it 5-0 on his fourth of the season.

In the final few minutes of the middle frame, both Chyzowski and Cagnoni would score to extend Portland's lead to 7-0 after two periods of play.

The Giants found the back of the net for the first time 2:17 into the third after Schmidt used his lightning quick speed to break away from the defence in the neutral zone and fly in all alone. The 17-year-old used a quick deke in tight to get goaltender Justen Maric to bite on his fake, allowing Schmidt to easily slide it in on his forehand for his 18th tally of the season.

Just under four minutes later, the Giants struck on a power play, after captain Sam Honzek set up Halaburda in front for an easy tap-in.

Then, at the 10:17 mark of the third, the Giants scored their third goal in a row, this time after Zimmer used his speed to drive wide on the right wing and shot while fighting off the check of defenceman Josh Mori, placing it perfectly top corner.

Mori was given a five-minute major for slew-footing on the play, giving the Giants an extended power play at the halfway point of the third.

Portland would kill it off in its entirety and get a late goal from Buttazoni to make the final score 8-3.

The final power plays were: 12 for Portland (2-for-12) and nine for Vancouver (1-for-7).

STATISTICS

SOG: VAN - 3/7/10 = 20 | POR - 20/19/15 = 54

PP: VAN - 1/7 | POR - 2/12

Face-Offs: VAN - 34 | POR - 16

3 STARS

1st: POR - James Stefan - 2G, 2A, 6 SOG, +2

2nd: POR - Luca Cagnoni - 1G, 2A, 1 SOG, +2

3rd: POR - Marcus Nguyen - 3A, 7 SOG, +3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Vancouver: Loss - Matthew Hutchison (46 saves / 54 shots)

Portland: WIN - Justen Maric (17 saves / 20 shots)

NEXT GAME:

The Giants get right back at it on Monday with a Family Day contest at home against the Spokane Chiefs for Country Day at 2 PM!

Check out the Vancouver Giants Statistics




Images from this story

Vancouver Giants' Cameron Schmidt in action
Vancouver Giants' Cameron Schmidt in action
(Keith Dwiggins)		   

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Western Hockey League Stories from February 18, 2024


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