Giants claw back to claim win

By admin May 20, 2007

VANCOUVER, Sunday, May 20, 2007 The Vancouver Giants made it two in a row as they defeated the Lewiston MAINEiacs 2-1 in the third game of the 2007 MasterCard Memorial Cup Tournament in front of 13,734 fans assembled at Pacific Coliseum; a new tournament record.

MAINEiacs goaltender Jonathan Bernier started the game where he left off yesterday, keeping the Giants off the scoreboard with a few great saves. David Perron opened the scoring by tipping a shot from teammate Pierre-Luc Faubert past Giants backstop Tyson Sexsmith.

Second-period play was a much tighter affair as both teams focused their efforts on reducing the number of quality scoring chances. Lewiston managed only eleven shots on goal in the first forty minutes of play.

Giants forward Kenndal McArdle tied the game up at one with his second goal of the MasterCard Memorial Cup tournament near the halfway mark of the third period while Wacey Rabbit netted the game-winner with less than five minutes remaining.

Vancouver head coach Don Hay was happy with his team’s effort. "Even though we were down early, we never let up. We just kept coming at them and we were able to get the win," he said.

His counterpart, Lewiston head coach Clément Jodoin, mentioned that he would rest his troops tomorrow. "We’ll rest the guys up and we’ll find a way. Some of our key guys need to produce if we’re to be successful."

On Monday, the Plymouth Whalers will face the Medicine Hat Tigers at 5:00 PT / 8:00 ET on Rogers Sportsnet, RDS and INSINC.