RECAP: Giants Lacklustre 2nd Period Sinks Them in Loss to Cougars

Category: ArticleSeptember 27, 2024

Langley, B.C. – The Prince George Cougars rode a four-goal second period to the finish line on Friday night at the Langley Events Centre, defeating the Vancouver Giants 6-3 thanks to a pair of goals each from 20-year-olds Carlin Dezainde and Borya Valis.

Draft-eligible forward Cameron Schmidt scored twice for the third consecutive game for the Giants – giving him an outstanding six goals in just three games this season, which leads the WHL – but Vancouver found themselves chasing the game after going down 4-0 in the second period and couldn’t quite recover.

Valis and Evan Groening scored empty-net goals 1:04 apart to put the contest out of reach after the Giants cut the Cougars lead to 4-3 with 2:48 remaining in regulation. Hunter Laing’s second period marker stood up as the game-winning-goal for Prince George, while Joshua Ravensbergen finished with 41 saves for the visitors.

Ty Halaburda also scored for Vancouver in his first game back from Vancouver Canucks camp, while rookie Ryan Lin turned heads again with his play, recording two assists.

CLICK FOR THE OFFICIAL WHL BOXSCORE

GAME SUMMARY

Neither team scored in the opening 20 minutes, but the Giants certainly flew out of the gate. They had a 10-2 lead in shots on goal midway through the period and generated 15 shots on goal in the first period, but couldn’t beat goaltender Joshua Ravensbergen.

Less than two minutes into the second period, Valis set up Dezainde with a perfect pass on an odd-man rush while the Cougars were killing a penalty, making it 1-0 Prince George on a shorthanded tally.

At the 9:02 mark of the second, Dezainde would score his second of the period, after he put home a rebound for his third goal of the young season.

Valis would score unassisted after driving to the net on his backhand at the 11:56 mark of the middle frame, before Laing made it 4-0 when he banged home a rebound on a power play.

Before the second period came to a close, the Giants got on the board when Schmidt fired a laser on the power play from the right circle over the blocker of Ravensbergen.

Schmidty gets us on the board, 4-1 PG!#BeAGiant pic.twitter.com/THZajDPZx6

— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) September 28, 2024

Vancouver had a much better third period, and Halaburda made it a two-goal game when he came down the right wing and snapped one home with 7:31 left in the game.

PP GOAL by urs truly, Ty Halaburda!
(p.s. Linner's second assist of the game!)

4-2 PG.#BeAGiant | @TheWHL pic.twitter.com/QD33qLNB18

— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) September 28, 2024

The Giants pulled the goalie and got rewarded when Schmidt was the beneficiary of a loose puck at the side of the net after a crease scramble. Colton Roberts’ shot from the right circle started the play, and Schmidt shot it past Ravensbergen after some good whacking away from Kyren Gronick and Tyson Zimmer in the Cougars crease.

Cameron Schmidt's 2nd of the game and his 6th of the szn 🚨#BeAGiant | @TheWHL pic.twitter.com/j8jOVea95z

— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) September 28, 2024

Only 31 seconds after Vancouver made it a one-goal game, Valis scored into the empty net from his own zone. Just over a minute later, Groening also hit the empty net, making it a 6-3 final score.

THEY SAID IT

“I thought we certainly let one slip away, there’s no question about it. I thought the first period was a really good first period for us and then we just gave up a couple really lazy goals for them to go up 2-0: just missed assignments. We turned pucks over and then we just quit. Quit on the puck. And then they came back, it’s in the back of our net to make it 3-0, and then it’s 4-0. It was tough for our guys in that second period. I thought our third period we came back and responded quite well, but it’s tough to get back in the game when you’re down like that against a team like that. I didn’t like the way we responded in the second period on a couple of those goals as far as our body language in a couple situations. We didn’t see that last weekend.” – Giants Head Coach Manny Viveiros

STATISTICS

SOG: VAN — 15/10/20 = 45 | PG – 5/17/13 = 35
PP: VAN—2/4 | PG — 1/3
Face-Offs: VAN — 49 | PG — 23

3 STARS

1st: PG – Carlin Dezainde – 2G, 3 SOG, +2
2nd: VAN – Ryan Lin – 2A, 2 SOG
3rd: PG – Borya Valis – 2G, 1A, 7 SOG, +3

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Vancouver: LOSS – Matthew Hutchison (29 saves / 33 shots)
Prince George: WIN – Joshua Ravensbergen (41 saves / 44 shots)

UP NEXT

Date	Opponent	Time	Location
Friday, October 4	Kamloops Blazers	7 PM PT	Langley Events Centre
Sunday, October 6	Calgary Hitmen	1 PM PT	Scotiabank Saddledome
Tuesday, October 8	Red Deer Rebels	6 PM PT	Peavey Mart Centrium
Friday, October 11	Lethbridge Hurricanes	6 PM PT	VisitLethbridge.com Arena

B.C. Division