RECAP: Chiefs Draw First Blood, Take Series Opener 4-1 Over Giants

Category: ArticleMarch 28, 2025

Langley, B.C. – The Vancouver Giants lost 4-1 to the Spokane Chiefs in Game 1 of their opening round playoff series on Friday night at the Langley Events Centre.

Vancouver scored first, but Spokane scored two in the second and two in the third, including an empty-net marker, to take the first game of the series.

Jaden Lipinski had the lone goal and Burke Hood was reliable as always for the G-Men, making 40 saves on 43 shots in his first career postseason game.

Assanali Sarkenov had the game-winning-goal for Spokane, while Andrew Cristall scored a pair (including the empty-netter). Sam Oremba tied the game for the Chiefs early in the second.

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GAME SUMMARY

Lipinski opened the scoring at 13:44 of the opening period on a power play after a great shot-pass from Cameron Schmidt.

The heat is here!@NHLFlames prospect Jaden Lipinski opens the scoring in Game 1 for the @WHLGiants.#WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingtheFuture pic.twitter.com/fMonSf6QfJ

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) March 29, 2025

Hood helped hold off a late first period push from Spokane, finishing the opening frame with 18 saves on 18 shots.

Just two minutes into the second period, Oremba finished in tight on the backhand after taking a pass from Sarkenov off the rush.

Late in the middle frame, Sarkenov deflected in a point shot from Nathan Mayes to give Spokane their first lead of the game.

Cristall put a loose puck into the back of the net after an initial try was blocked to increase the Chiefs lead to 3-1 at the 6:47 mark of the third period. He would also add an empty-net goal with 1:45 remaining to make the final score 4-1.

STATISTICS

SOG: VAN —8/12/6 = 26 | SPO – 18/10/16 = 44
PP: VAN—1/1 | SPO — 0/1
Face-Offs: VAN — 36 | SPO — 33

3 STARS:

1st: SPO – Assanali Sarkenov – 1G, 1A, 4 SOG, +2
2nd: VAN – Burke Hood – 40 Saves on 43 Shots
3rd: SPO – Andrew Cristall – 2G, 5 SOG, +2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Vancouver: LOSS – Burke Hood (40 saves / 43 shots)
Spokane: WIN – Dawson Cowan (25 saves / 26 shots)

THEY SAID IT

“They played well, and so did we. I thought our game was really good. No issues with our game whatsoever. Made a mistake on the first goal – got caught out of position a little bit on the back check. We weren’t in position – they took advantage of it. [They’re] a quick team and we know that. Second goal they scored deflected. It was going wide. So a little bit unlucky. But other than that, I thought we did a really good job of what we wanted to do tonight. We had some really good looks. Some Grade-A chances and we just didn’t finish. That’s the way it is. Spokane is a heck of a team, but I liked the way we played. I liked the way we stuck with it. They locked us down a little bit after they made it 3-1. They made it a lot harder through the neutral zone. That’s something we’ll have to work on a little bit as far as getting through that neutral zone with a little bit more speed, playing a little faster, but other than that I’ve got no qualms with the way our kids played tonight.” – Manny Viveiros Head Coach on the game overall

UPCOMING

Game two of the series goes on Sunday, March 30 at 4 p.m. at the LEC.

See below for the first playoff schedule:

Game	Date	Away	Home	Time
1	Friday, March 28	Spokane	Vancouver	4-1 L
2	Sunday, March 30	Spokane	Vancouver	4:00 p.m. PDT
3	Wednesday, April 2	Vancouver	Spokane	7:05 p.m. PDT
4	Thursday, April 3	Vancouver	Spokane	7:05 p.m. PDT
5*	Saturday, April 5	Vancouver	Spokane	6:05 p.m. PDT
6*	Monday, April 7	Spokane	Vancouver	7:00 p.m. PDT
7*	Wednesday, April 9	Vancouver	Spokane	7:05 p.m. PDT