BLAZERS WIN 7-3 OVER GIANTS ON HOME ICE

By Colton Davies – Follow Colton on X

The Kamloops Blazers hosted the Vancouver Giants for the final home game of the 2025-26 regular season.

The Giants jumped out to a quick start as Joe Iginla opened the scoring to make it 1-0. The Blazers responded almost immediately, with JP Hurlbert sniping one past Burke Hood on the power play to tie the game 1-1, marking his 40th goal of the season. The back-and-forth action continued just seconds later, as the Giants regained the lead when Lance McCloskey’s shot from the blue line found its way past Edmonstone to make it 2–1.

The Blazer then capitalized on momentum following a monster save from Edmonstone, when Vit Zahejsky jumped on a loose rebound to tie the game at 2-2. With time winding down in the first, Zahejsky struck again, giving the Blazers a 3-2 lead heading into the intermission.

Kamloops carried that energy into the second, and off a Ty Coupland steal, Hurlbert picked up the loose puck and beat Hood to extend the lead to 4-2. The Blazers and Giants continued to trade low-danger chances until the 12:00 mark when Mathis Preston scored one off the post and in to cut the Blazers lead to one.

Edmonstone came up big again later in the period, making a spectacular glove save to rob Iginla on the goal line and preserve the lead. Vancouver continued to press, but Edmonstone stayed steady to round out the period, 4-3.

The third period got off to a physical start when Nathan Behm collided with the Giants’ netminder, sparking some early tension. On the ensuing power play, the Giants applied pressure, but Edmonstone again came up big.

The Blazers then added to their lead as Behm buried a net-front opportunity to make it 5–3. The intensity continued to rise later in the period following a hard hit from Misha Volotovskii on Blazers forward Ty Bonkowski. Zahejsky quickly stepped in to defend his teammate as tempers flared, and Bonkowski required assistance off the ice.

With time winding down, the Giants pulled their netminder and Tommy Lafreniere made no mistake, sending it into the empty net to make it 6-3. Hurlbert added one more, completing the hat trick, sealing the game 7-3.

Up Next: The Kamloops Blazers will face the Vancouver Giants on Saturday in Langley.