PREVIEW: Giants Need Win Saturday to Secure 5th
PHOTO BY: ROB WILTON
Kelowna, B.C. – Tonight the Vancouver Giants (32-31-4-0) can hop the Kelowna Rockets (32-30-4-1) and secure fifth place in the Western Conference with a win in the final game of the regular season, set to be played at 7:05 p.m. at Prospera Place.
Any sort of win tonight, whether it be in regulation, overtime or a shootout, will guarantee Vancouver the fifth seed, while the same can be said for the Rockets. The winner will take on the Wenatchee Wild in the opening round of the 2024 Western Hockey League Playoffs, while the loser will finish in sixth and face the Everett Silvertips.
Tonight is the second half of a home-and-home, following Kelowna’s 6-2 win last night at the Langley Events Centre.
The G-Men are just 1-5-1 in the season series with Kelowna so far.
HOW TO TUNE IN
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LAST TIME OUT
The Vancouver Giants lost 6-2 to the Kelowna Rockets on Friday night at the Langley Events Centre, setting up a do-or-die battle for fifth place on Saturday night in Kelowna in the regular season finale.
Scoring for the Giants on Friday was Cameron Schmidt (31st) and Tyson Zimmer (22nd), while Brett Mirwald stopped 30 of 35.
The Rockets got a combined 11 points from the top line of Andrew Cristall, Max Graham and captain Gabriel Szturc.
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Today is the eighth and final head-to-head meeting this season. The Giants are 1-5-1 against Kelowna so far, with their only win coming on January 21 on home ice (4-2).
The Rockets have outscored Vancouver 31-16 in the seven meetings thus far.
Whatever may have happened this season between the Giants and Rockets goes out the window in tonight’s do-or-die game, where Vancouver will need to dig deep and improve on Friday’s effort.
“We didn’t get on the inside. We didn’t forecheck. We played on the perimeter offensively,” Giants Head Coach Manny Viveiros said after last night’s game. “Eventually we ended up just getting frustrated and lost our cool in some situations and they capitalized.”
The Rockets top line of Andrew Cristall, Max Graham and Gabriel Szturc will certainly need to be held at bay, as they combined for 11 points on Friday. In the season series those three have a combined 35 points in seven games.
TALE OF THE TAPE
VANCOUVER | STAT | KELOWNA |
32-31-4-0 (68 Pts) | RECORD | 32-30-4-1 (69 Pts) |
3rd | DIV. RANK | 2nd |
6th | CONF. RANK | 5th |
4-5-1-0 | PAST 10 | 6-2-1-1 |
2L | STREAK | 1W |
19-12-3-0 | HOME | 19-10-3-1 |
13-19-1-0 | AWAY | 13-20-1-0 |
220 (3.28 – 13th) | GF (/G) | 245 (3.66 -10th) |
244 (3.64 – 12th) | GA (/G) | 256 (3.82 – 15th) |
46-for-224 (20.5%) | PP% | 59-for-250 (23.6%) |
219-for-280 (78.2%) | PK% | 188-for-259 (72.6%) |
Halaburda (21-45-66)
Lipinski (23-42-65) Schmidt (31-26-57) |
LEADERS | Cristall (40-70-110)
Iginla (47-36-83) Sztruc (33-50-83) |
119 (T-18th) | POINTS BY D | 152 (11th) |
WHAT ARE WE WEARING
The Giants will be wearing their red primary jerseys for tonight’s game, as the Rockets will be wearing white Rocky the Racoon themed jerseys.
SEASON SERIES VS. KELOWNA (1-5-1-0; 8 H2H)
DATE | LOCATION | RESULT/TIME |
Oct. 21, 2023 | Prospera Place | 6-5 L |
Dec. 1, 2023 | LEC | 4-0 L |
Jan. 19, 2024 | Prospera Place | 5-2 L |
Jan. 21, 2024 | LEC | 4-2 W |
Feb. 23, 2024 | Prospera Place | 4-1 L |
March 1, 2024 | LEC | 4-3 OTL |
March 22, 2024 | LEC | 6-2 L |
March 23, 2024 | Prospera Place | 7:05 pm PT |
NEXT UP
PLAYOFFS!
Stay tuned to VancouverGiants.com to see the playoff schedule, which will be released after this evening’s contest.
Playoff tickets will go on sale on Monday, March 25 at 10 a.m. PT.