Giants Kick Off 20202 With a Home OT Win Over the Kelowna Rockets

Sunday afternoon at the LEC the Vancouver Giants (15-16-1-0) kicked off the new calendar year in fine fashion. Zack Ostapchuk struck 30 seconds into overtime and three other Giants had a pair of points in a 4-3 victory over the Kelowna Rockets (16-9-1-3-). Tanner Brown, Kaden Kohle and Ty Thorpe added the other goals for the G-Men while Gabriel Szturc (2) and Colton Dach responded for Kelowna. The Giants snapped a four-game winless skid with the win, while the Rockets dropped their first game in a span of six tries.

OSTAPCHUK SNIPES IN OT TO GIVE THE G-MEN THEIR 15TH WIN

BOX SCORE

 1^st Period

 KEL – Just 1:19 into the game, Gabriel Szturc (5) put Kelowna ahead 1-0 when he snuck into the slot, took a feed from Tyson Feist and wired a low shot past Jesper Vikman for his first of two on the night.

VAN – Tanner Brown answered for Vancouver at 11:46 off a shot from the right-wing point that came as a direct result of a faceoff victory in the Kelowna zone. Ty Thorpe and Justin Sourdif assisted on Brown’s third of the campaign.

KEL – Late in the period, Szturc struck again. This one came off a scramble in front of the Giants goal which led to a Giant accidentally back-handing the puck into his own goal. Andrew Cristall earned the lone helper on the Rockets go-ahead marker.

Shots: 12-8 Kelowna

2^nd Period

 VAN – 6:20 into the middle frame, Kaden Kohle (3) tied the score for Vancouver off a Damian Palmieri centering feed from the left wing. Colton Langkow drew the second assist.

VAN – Ty Thorpe then gave the Giants their first lead of the night at 18:18 off a shot from the right-wing circle off the rush. Justin Sourdif feed Thorpe the pass off a two-on-one rush. Tanner Brown also assisted.

Shots: 9-8 Vancouver

3^rd Period

 KEL – At 13:07 of the final frame, Colton Dach (13) answered for Kelowna on a power play which came just seven seconds off a faceoff victory. The helpers came from Andrew Cristall and Jake Lee.

Shots: 9-8 Vancouver

Overtime

 VAN – 30 seconds into overtime, Zack Ostapchuk (8) sent the home crowd home happy when he finished off a Cole Shepard feed from in close. Shepard centered the puck to Ostapchuk from the right-wing corner from along the goal line. Seconds earlier, Rockets defenceman Jake Lee hit the crossbar at the other side of the ice.

Shots: 4-0 Giants

 GAME SUMMARY

Final Score: Vancouver 4 – Kelowna 3 (OT)

Final Shots: 34 – 23 Vancouver

Jesper Vikman: 20/23 saves for Vancouver

Talyn Boyko: 30/34 saves for Kelowna

Vancouver Power Play: 0/1

Kelowna Power Play: 1/2

3 Stars:

• Justin Sourdif (VAN – 2A)
• Colton Dach (KEL – 1G)
• Damian Palmieri (VAN – 1A)

Next Giants Game: Friday night in Kelowna at 7:05 PM.

 NOTES

• Sunday’s overtime goal was the first of Zack Ostapchuk’s career.
• Kaden Kohle has now scored in three straight home games for the Giants dating back to December 19^th against the Tri-City Americans.
• Justin Sourdif and Jesper Vikman both played their first games for the Giants since returning from the World Juniors.
• With a two-point effort, Ty Thrope has now arrived at the 30-point mark for the Giants for the first time in his WHL career.
• The Giants improved to 4-0-1-0 against the Kelowna Rockets and are 3-0 against them at home.