Giants Kick Off Three-In-Three Weekend With a 5-2 Loss At Home

Category: ArticleMarch 25, 2022

Friday evening at the Langley Events Centre the Vancouver Giants (23-31-4-0) dropped a 5-2 decision to the visiting Seattle Thunderbirds (38-17-4-2). The T-Birds scored three power-play goals in the first period, two courtesy of Lukas Svejkovsky. Jared Davidson also supplied two goals for Seattle while Samuel Knazko added two assists. The visitors led 3-1 after the first period and despite a valiant push-back in the second period, the closest the Giants would come was 3-2 before Seattle pulled away. Damien Palmieri (2) and Ethan Semeniuk (8) supplied goals for the G-Men while Connor Martin (19) and Will Gurski (5) combined for 24 saves. Thomas Millic made 22 saves in the Seattle net.

GIANTS FALL 5-2 IN WEEKEND OPENER

BOX SCORE

1^st Period:

SEA – 4:48 into the first period, Lukas Svejkovsky converted off a shot from the high-slot on a five-on-three power-play for his 26^th goal of the season. Assists came from Samuel Knazko and Jared Davidson.

SEA – 36 second later, Reid Schaefer (30) added another power-play goal for the T-Birds. The draft eligible forwarded found a loose puck on a scramble play in front of the crease, and made no mistake. Assists were credited to Henrik Rybinski and Kevin Korchinski.

SEA – Lukas Svejkovsky (27) wasn’t done. He took a cross-ice pass from Samuel Knazko, walked into the left circle and wired one home for his second power-play goal of the evening at 8:57. The second assist came from Jared Davidson.

*Giants goaltender Will Gurski was replaced by Connor Martin at 8:57.

VAN – With 6:25 remaining in the first, Damien Palmieri (2) put the Giants on the board, when he banged home a rebound in close. The play started with an initial Damian Palmieri chance that bounced off his own teammate. Ty Thorpe and Evan Toth both assisted on the play.

Shots: 13-5 Seattle

2^nd Period:

VAN – 11:41 into the second period, Ethan Semeniuk (8) made it a 3-2 game on a Giants power play. The rookie forward followed up a Jaden Lipinski rebound and hammered it home. The second assist came courtesy of Mazden Leslie.

SEA – The Thunderbirds reclaimed their two-goal lead at 15:21, when defenceman Ethan Mittlesteadt stepped between the dots and roofed his first career WHL goal. The assist was provided by Jeremy Hanzel.

Shots: 12-9 Vancouver

3^rd Period:

SEA – With 50 seconds remaining in the third period, Jared Davidson (30) broke free from his own zone and snapped his second of the game into the empty net to ice the Seattle victory.

Shots: 7-7

GAME SUMMARY

Final Score: Seattle Thunderbirds 5 – Vancouver Giants 2

Final Shots: 29-22 Seattle

Will Gurski: 5/8 Saves for Vancouver

Connor Martin: 19/20 Saves for Vancouver

Thomas Milic: 20/22 Saves for Seattle

3 Stars:

Sameul Knazko (SEA – 2A)
Lucas Svejkovsky (SEA – 2G)
Jacob Boucher (VAN – 2 shots, +1)

Next Game: A rematch Saturday against the Seattle Thunderbirds in Seattle at 6:05PM

NOTES

Damien Palmieri scored his first goal in 36 games. His last goal came on November 3^rd in Kelowna against the Rockets.
Defenceman Mazden Leslie now has five assists in his last five games.
(AP) Forward Justin Ivanusec was called up for his first game since January 29^th.
The Giants are now 0-2 for the season series against Seattle with two remaining games to play.
Due to the Spokane Chiefs losing to Everett, the Giants magic number to clinch a playoff berth is now at 5. Any combination of five Giant victories/Spokane losses would clinch a playoff berth for Vancouver.

*Notes/story contributions provided by Michael Williams