Giants Lose In Overtime
The Victoria Royals scored on the power play with 30 seconds left in overtime to defeat the Vancouver Giants 4-3 Friday night at the Ladner Leisure Centre. It is the second overtime loss of the pre-season for the Giants. Their record is now 1-0-2-0 in exhibition.
Giants blueliner Tyler Hart opened the scoring in the first period on the power play. After hitting the post twice, he finally found the back of the net on his third try. The Giants added to their lead just over four minutes later as Dalton Sward scored his first of the pre-season to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes of play.
In the second period, Victoria finally solved Jackson Whistle. Austin Carroll split the defense for a nice breakaway goal on the 16 year old netminder to cut the lead to 2-1. 20 year old Hayden Rintoul scored to tie the game at 2-2. Steven Hodges made it 3 straight goals for the Royals as he took advantage of Giants turnover in their own end to give Victoria its first lead of the game 3-2. Hart would get the Giants back on even terms with his 2nd of the night on the man advantage, making it a 3-3 game after two periods.
The Royals had the best chances in the third period with four power play opportunities, but were kept off the scoreboard. The Giants were unable to find the back of the net either and as a result overtime would be needed. Brett Kulak took a holding penalty with a minute left in extra time to put Victoria on the power play and they would make Vancouver pay, as Jamie Crooks’ one timer beat Whistle to give the visitors a 4-3 victory.
The Giants were outshot 41-33. Whistle made 37 saves in net for the Giants. Vancouver finished 2-for-6 on the power play, while Victoria was 1-for-8. These two teams will meet again tomorrow afternoon in Maple Ridge. Game time is 3:00pm at the Maple Ridge Planet Ice.
