PREVIEW: Giants Close Out Triple Header Weekend in Victoria Looking for 4th Straight Win

PHOTO BY: KEVIN LIGHT

Victoria, B.C. – This afternoon the Vancouver Giants (20-24-2-0) play the second of three straight against the Victoria Royals (24-16-4-3), looking to build off their come-from-behind 5-3 victory last night at the LEC.

The season series now favours the Giants 3-2, though four of the five head-to-head games thus far have been played in Langley. Vancouver is now 6-3 in 2024, while the Royals have only one win in their last eight (1-3-3-1).

HOW TO TUNE IN Date | Time  Sunday, January 28 | 3:05 pm PT Place Save on Foods Memorial Arena Video Stream watch.chl.ca Listen Sportsnet 650 | Pre-Game begins at 2 p.m. Live Stats Click Here Social Media Twitter | Facebook  | Instagram | TikTok

LAST TIME OUT

For the second consecutive night, the Vancouver Giants made an unlikely comeback, this time, rallying from deficits of 5-1 and 6-3 to beat Victoria 7-6 in overtime on the road.

Giants forward Tyson Zimmer had the overtime winner with 11.7 seconds left in the extra frame, just one night after scoring the game-winning-goal on home ice on Friday.

Vancouver got a hat-trick from Connor Levis (12th, 13th, 14th), plus goals from Tyler Thorpe (22nd), Mazden Leslie (11th), Adam Titlbach (6th) and Zimmer (15th). Brett Mirwald came in relief for Matthew Hutchison to start the third period, stopping all seven shots he faced in 24:48 to grab his 16th win of the season.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

This is the seventh of eight head-to-head meetings this season and the third in a row.

The Giants currently lead the season series 4-2, following victories on opening night (4-1), on the road on Oct. 28 (3-2 in a shootout), this past Friday (5-3) and last night (7-6 in overtime). Victoria won 3-2 on Oct. 27 and 4-2 on Dec. 27, both at the LEC.

One player to watch from the Giants is forward Adam Titlbach, who broke a 21-game goalless drought with his sixth of the year. He recorded his third multi-point game of the season last night (1G-2A) and has been finding chemistry alongside Zimmer and London Hoilett.

One player to watch from the Royals is Dawson Pasternak, who had a pair of assists last night and leads the Royals in scoring with 48 points. Although typically a forward, he was playing defence last night, which is something he has done before when needed. Pasternak just surpassed the 100-point plateau in his WHL career, recording point number 100 and 101 last night.

The Giants are 7-3 since the calendar flipped to 2024 and they currently sit in 7th place in the Western Conference Standings. The Royals are 2-3-4-1 in 2024 and currently sit in 5th place in the West. Seven of Victoria’s last 11 games have gone to overtime.

TALE OF THE TAPE

VANCOUVER	STAT	VICTORIA
20-24-2-0 (42 Pts)	RECORD	24-16-4-3 (55 Pts)
4th	DIV. RANK	2nd
7th	CONF. RANK	5th
7-3-0-0	PAST 10	2-3-4-1
3W	STREAK	3L
10-10-2-0	HOME	14-6–1-1
10-14-0-0	AWAY	10-10-3-2
138 (3.00 – 20th)	GF (/G)	164 (3.49 – 12th)
179 (3.89 – 17th)	GA (/G)	176 (3.74 – 12th)
35-for-157 (22.3%)	PP%	37-for-180 (20.6%)
154-for-198 (77.8%)	PK%	145-for-187 (77.5%)
Halaburda (15-27-42) Lipinski (14-28-42) Thorpe (22-19-41)	LEADERS	Pasternak (18-30-48) Scott (17-29-46) Laventure (20-25-45)

SEASON SERIES VS. VICTORIA (4-2-0; 8 H2H)