PREVIEW: Giants Host Rockets For Fan Appreciation with Opportunity to Clinch 5th

PHOTO BY: ROB WILTON

Langley, B.C. – Tonight the Vancouver Giants (32-30-4-0) have an opportunity to clinch at least fifth place in the Western Conference when they host the Kelowna Rockets (31-30-4-1) at the Langley Events Centre at 7 p.m.

It’s the beginning of a home-and-home for both Vancouver and Kelowna this weekend to close out the regular season and the G-Men need any sort of win (regulation, overtime or shootout) in order to solidify fifth.

The standings remain as tight as ever heading into the final weekend, with Wenatchee in fourth (70 points), Vancouver in fifth (68 points), Kelowna in sixth (67 points), and Victoria in seventh (67 points). The G-Men can still theoretically catch Wenatchee for fourth, with a combination of seven points gained by Vancouver or lost by Wenatchee, which would give them home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The Giants are 3-1 in their last four, but are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Prince George Cougars on Sunday afternoon at home. Although the G-Men are just 1-4-1 in the season series with Kelowna so far, they are still 12-1-1 on home ice in the 2024 calendar year.

The Rockets last played Vancouver on March 1, which was a 4-3 overtime win, and since then, they’ve gone 4-2-1. Their most recent result was a 4-2 home loss to the Everett Silvertips.

HOW TO TUNE IN Date | Time  Friday, March 22 | 7:00 pm PT Place Langley Events Centre Video Stream watch.chl.ca Listen Sportsnet 650 | Pre-Game begins at 6:00 p.m. Live Stats Click Here Social Media Twitter | Facebook  | Instagram | TikTok

LAST TIME OUT

The Vancouver Giants lost a hard fought battle to the Prince George Cougars on Sunday afternoon, heading into the third period tied 3-3, before the first-place Cougars pulled away to win by a final score of 6-3.

The line of Jaden Lipinski, Ty Halaburda and Cameron Schmidt continued their strong play on Sunday, with Lipinski scoring twice (including once shorthanded), Schmidt burying his 30th of the season and Halaburda registering three assists.

Matthew Hutchison stopped 29 of 34 shots in the Giants net.

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP

Today is the seventh of eight head-to-head meetings this season. The Giants are 1-4-1 against Kelowna so far, with their only win coming on January 21 on home ice (4-2). 

The Rockets have outscored Vancouver 25-14 in the six meetings thus far.

On home ice in 2024, the Giants are 12-1-1 and have outscored their opponents 63-35. The Rockets begun a surge up the standings in late February, thanks to a 7-0-1-1 record from Feb. 19 – March 13, where goaltender Jari Kykkanen started every game.

Vancouver must shut down Rockets forwards Andrew Cristall, Tij Iginla and Gabriel Szturc, with those three combining for 29 points in the season series in 2023-24, including 14 of the Rockets’ 25 goals against the Giants. Kelowna’s power play is also 30.4 per cent against the G-Men during the season series (7-for-23).

The Giants Player to Watch tonight is goaltender Brett Mirwald, who will become just the fourth Giants netminder to record 30 or more wins in a single season if he snags a victory tonight. Currently at 29 wins, Mirwald would join Dustin Slade (2005-06), Tyson Sexsmith (2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09) and Adam Morrison (2011-12) as the only Giants goaltenders to achieve the feat. Despite the Giants allowing the most shots on goal per game in the WHL, Mirwald ranks 4th in the WHL in SV% (.914), first in overall saves (1652), 2nd in minutes played (3073) and T-2nd in wins (29). Most impressively, he is 1st by a mile in the WHL in ‘Goals Saved Above Expectation’ (38.1), which factors in not just the quantity of shots, but quality too.

The Player to Watch for the Rockets is forward Andrew Cristall, who is not surprisingly amongst the league’s top scorers, currently sitting in 5th with 106 points. It’s the first time Cristall has hit the century mark, which he eclipsed thanks to a historic seven-point night on March 8 vs. Kamloops. In his draft year last season, Cristall recorded 95 points in just 54 games. The left-shot forward is also T-3rd in the WHL in even-strength points with 68. Against the Giants in six games in 2023-24, Cristall has a whopping 14 points (6G-8A).

TALE OF THE TAPE

VANCOUVER	STAT	KELOWNA
32-30-4-0 (68 Pts)	RECORD	31-30-4-1 (67 Pts)
2nd	DIV. RANK	3rd
5th	CONF. RANK	6th
5-4-1-0	PAST 10	6-2-1-1
1L	STREAK	3L
19-11-3-0	HOME	19-10-3-1
13-19-1-0	AWAY	12-20-1-0
218 (3.30 – 12th)	GF (/G)	239 (3.62 -10th)
238 (3.61 – 11th)	GA (/G)	254 (3.85 – 14th)
45-for-222 (20.3%)	PP%	58-for-248 (23.4%)
218-for-278 (78.4%)	PK%	187-for-257 (72.8%)
Lipinski (23-42-65) Halaburda (21-44-65) Schmidt (30-26-56)	LEADERS	Cristall (39-67-106) Iginla (47-36-83) Sztruc (31-49-80)
118 (T-18th)	POINTS BY D	149 (11th)

SEASON SERIES VS. KELOWNA (1-4-1-0; 8 H2H)