PREVIEW: Vancouver Giants vs. Kamloops Blazers (Game #3, Round 2)

Category: ArticleMay 10, 2022

After dropping their first two playoff games in Kamloops, the Vancouver Giants return home to welcome the Blazers as they try to cut their deficit in half. The Giants are looking to extend their home playoff win streak to 3 games while the Blazers put their undefeated postseason record on the line once again. The puck drops tonight at 7:00 at the Langley Events Centre.

TICKETS – WATCH – LISTEN

KAMLOOPS BLAZERS

OVERVIEW

Record: 6-0-0-0

Last game: A 4-3 win against the Giants in Kamloops

Goals For/Goals Against: 30GF/7GA (+23)

Power Play: 8/38 (21%)

Penalty Kill: 30/31 (96.8%)

Leading Scorers: Logan Stankoven (7-9-16), Luke Toporowski (5-6-11), Caedan Bankier (3-6-9)

YOU CAN ‘BANK’ ON CAEDAN

Blazers forward Caedan Bankier continues to impress in the early part of the 2022 WHL playoffs. The Minnesota Wild prospect enters tonight’s game on a 16-game point streak dating back to the regular season. Over that span, he has 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points. The 2021 draftee of the Minnesota Wild has scored in each game so far in this series. Bankier’s impressive run is the longest active point streak in the WHL, and the second longest run by a Blazers player since the start of the regular season. Only Logan Stankoven’s 19-game streak (December 8, 2021 – February 9, 2022) has lasted longer.

PK PERFECTION

The Blazers have done an excellent job stifling one of the best power-plays in the playoffs through the first couple meetings with the Giants. Vancouver came into the series with a 37.5% power play (12 for 32), which sat 3^rd in the league, but Kamloops has killed all eight power play opportunities that the Giants have had in the series so far. The Blazers’ PK remains at the top of the WHL at 96.8% and has yet to surrender a power play goal against on the road.

BLAZER NOTES

Logan Stankoven and Luke Toporowski have each recorded points in all playoff games that they’ve played so far this season for the Blazers.
Coming into today, Logan Stankoven is tied for 2^nd in WHL playoff goal-scoring with 7 goals. Only Adam Hall has more (8).
The Blazers surrendered 3 goals against in Game 2 against the Giants, which matched the total they gave up in their entire 4-game sweep of Spokane in Round 1.
Dylan Garand enters tonight’s game with a 6-0 record, a 1.17 GAA, and a 0.954 SV%.
The Blazers have 3 players who were on the team during their 2019 playoff run: Logan Stankoven, Quinn Schmiemann, and Dylan Garand.

VANCOUVER GIANTS

OVERVIEW

Record: 4-4-0-0

Last game: A 4-3 loss in Kamloops

Goals For/Goals Against: 34GF/33GA (+1)

Power Play: 12/40 (30%)

Penalty Kill: 32/41 (78.0%)

Leading Scorers: Zack Ostapchuk (3-14-17), Fabian Lysell (4-11-15), Alex Cotton (5-9-14), Adam Hall (8-3-11)

FOLLOW THE LEADER

Vancouver Giants captain and Ottawa Senators draft pick Zach Ostapchuk continues to lead the WHL playoffs in both assists (14) and points (17). Ostapchuk’s stat line was amplified by two standout performances in the team’s first round series against the Everett Silvertips. He became the first Giants player to score 6 points (2-4-6) in a playoff game since Gilbert Brule in 2006. He also had 5 points (1-4-5) in their series-clinching 6-3 victory in Game 6, which advanced the Giants to the second round against their B.C. Division rivals from Kamloops.

HOME SWEET HOME

The Giants are back on home ice for the fourth time this postseason. They finished with a 2-1 record against the Everett Silvertips in the first round, which included a playoff franchise-record 11-goal game (11-6) back in Game 4. Coming into tonight, the home team has won 7 of 9 games through the second round of the WHL playoffs. The Giants defeated the Blazers 3-1 at the Langley Events Centre on December 3.

GIANT NOTES

Ethan Semeniuk recorded his first career playoff multi-point game after scoring a goal and an assist in Game 2.
Evan Toth’s short-handed goal in Game 2 was the first by a Giants defenceman in the playoffs since Bowen Byram on April 26, 2019 against Spokane.
Adam Hall leads the league with 8 goals in the playoffs.
With 5 goals and 9 assists, Alex Cotton leads all WHL defencemen in playoff scoring.
This is the third time the Giants have faced the Blazers in the playoffs. They swept the Blazers in 2010 and won the series 4-1 in 2004.
The Giants are the first team to score 11 goals in a playoff game since the Portland Winterhawks, who defeated the Silvertips 11-4 on March 29, 2013.
Jesper Vikman set a WHL playoff record with most saves in a shutout win with his 50-save effort in Game 5 against Everett. The previous record was 45 (Chet Pickard in 2006 and Nick Pannoni in 2002).

*Notes provided by Kyle Dalla Zanna