Giants Fall 3-1 To Blazers in Game 1 of Round 2
Friday night at the Sandman Centre in Kamloops the Vancouver Giants dropped a 3-1 decision to the Kamloops Blazers in Game 1 of their Round 2 playoff series. Caedan Bankier paced the Blazers with a goal and an assist while Reese Belton and Ethan Rowland provided the other goals for Kamloops. The Giants lone tally came from Adam Hall in the third period. Both goaltenders were sharp as Dylan Garand made 30 saves for Kamloops and Jesper Vikman stopped 35 pucks for Vancouver.
BLAZERS DRAW FIRST BLOOD AGAINST GIANTS
1st Period:
KAM – Caedan Bankier (2) notched his first goal of the series and his second goal of the playoffs on a backhand rebound that came on a Kamloops power play at 18:28. Luke Toporowski and Quinn Schmiemann both assisted.
Shots: 12-9 Kamloops
2nd Period:
KAM – Early in the second at 2:43, Kamloops extended their lead to 2-0 when Reese Belton finished off a two-on-one rush with Caedan Bankier. Belton’s first goal of the playoffs was also set up by Dylan Sydor.
KAM – Ethan Rowland bagged the final goal of the night for Kamloops at 16:29 when he finished off a Logan Stankoven rebound. Mats Lindgren earned the second assist.
Shots: 16-13 Kamloops
3rd Period:
VAN – The Giants lone goal of the night came at 7:04 from Adam Hall (8) on a redirect from Damian Palmieri’s point shot. Zack Ostapchuk secured the second assist.
Shots: 10-9 Kamloops
GAME SUMMARY
Final Score: Kamloops 3 – Vancouver 1 (Kamloops leads the series 1-0)
Final Shots: 38-31 Kamloops
Jesper Vikman: 35/38 saves for Vancouver
Dylan Garand: 30/31 saves for Kamloops
Vancouver Power Play: 0/3
Kamloops Power Play: 1/3
3 Stars:
- Dylan Garand (KAM – 30 Saves)
- Caedan Bankier (KAM – 1G, 1A)
- Jesper Vikman (VAN – 35 Saves)
Next Game: Game 2 goes tomorrow night at 7:00 PM from Kamloops.
NOTES
- Friday’s loss ended the Giants playoff winning streak that had spanned their previous three games.
- With eight goals so far in the playoffs, Adam Hall leads all WHL skaters in goals.
- Zack Ostapchuk has earned points in each of his past four games. In that span, Ostapchuk has supplied three goals and 10 assists for 13 points.
- The Kamloops Blazers did not register a goal in the third period Friday, marking the first period of their playoffs so far that they haven’t scored a goal.
