This Week in Giants Playoff History
Take a look back at some of the Vancouver Giants’ most memorable playoff games from March 28th – April 3rd!
March 28, 2012
The G-Men dropped a 3-2 decision to the Spokane Chiefs in overtime in Game 4 of their opening round series. The win for Spokane evened the series at 2-2 after Vancouver had been up 2-0. Mitch Holmberg scored the winning goal for the Chiefs at 6:43 of the first overtime period, but the game nearly ended in regulation as Brendan Gallagher’s tying goal for Vancouver came with just 31 seconds remaining. Austin Fyten scored the other goal for the Giants.
3 Stars:
1. Mitch Holmberg – Spokane (1 goal, 1 assist, +2)
2. Eric Williams – Spokane (21 saves on 23 shots)
3. Adam Morrison – Vancouver (23 saves on 26 shots)
March 29, 2005
The Giants took a 2-1 lead in their first round series against the Kelowna Rockets with a 4-3 victory at the Coliseum. The Rockets jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the midway mark, thanks in part to a pair of goals scored by Justin Keller, but the G-Men rattled off four unanswered goals from Paul Albers, Mitch Bartley, Cam Cunning and Andrej Meszaros to pick up the win.
3 Stars:
1. Gilbert Brule – Vancouver (2 assists, even)
2. Justin Keller – Kelowna (2 goals, even)
3. Mark Fistric – Vancouver (+1)
March 30, 2007
The Giants advanced to the second round of the post-season, completing a 4-1 series victory over the Chilliwack Bruins with a 3-1 win at the Rink on Renfrew. Tim Kraus, Kenndal McArdle and Spencer Machacek scored for Vancouver. The game ended with tempers boiling over as four fighting majors, one instigator penalty and 50 minutes in misconducts were assessed after the final buzzer. Check out video of the end of the game here.
3 Stars:
1. Kenndal McArdle – Vancouver (1 goal, 1 assist, +2)
2. Mario Bliznak – Vancouver (2 assists, +2)
3. Josh Aspenlind – Chilliwack (1 goal, -2)
March 31
The Giants have yet to play a playoff game on March 31st.
April 1, 2006
Spencer Machacek scored a hat-trick to help the Giants lock up a 4-1 opening round series win over the Prince George Cougars, winning Game 5 by a score of 5-2. Gilbert Brule and Milan Lucic also scored for Vancouver. This was just the second series win in Giants franchise history. Vancouver would advance to take on the Portland Winterhawks in Round 2, en route to their first and only WHL Championship.
3 Stars:
1. Spencer Machacek – Vancouver (3 goals, 1 assist, +2)
2. Gilbert Brule – Vancouver (1 goal, 2 assists, +2)
3. Mark Fistric – Vancouver (1 assist, +2)
April 2, 2004
After defeating Kamloops in the opening round, the Giants began their second round series against the Everett Silvertips with a 2-1 win on home ice. Braden Appleby scored the winning goal for Vancouver at 15:37 of the third period while Ty Morris also rippled the mesh for the G-Men. Aaron Sorochan stopped 25 of 26 Everett shots in the win.
3 Stars:
1. Braden Appleby – Vancouver (1 goal, +1)
2. Kyle Bruce – Vancouver (1 assist, +1)
3. Jeff Harvey – Everett (26 saves on 28 shots)
April 3, 2010
After a first round sweep of the Kamloops Blazers, the Giants opened up the second round with a high-scoring 9-6 win over the Portland Winterhawks in the City of Roses. Brendan Gallagher led the way with four goals for the G-Men while Lance Bouma, Craig Cunningham, James Wright, James Henry and Brett Breitkreuz scored as well. Vancouver went 2-for-6 on the power play.
3 Stars:
1. Brendan Gallagher – Vancouver (4 goals, 1 assist, +4)
2. Ryan Johansen – Portland (1 goal, 3 assists, +2)
3. James Wright – Vancouver (1 goal, 2 assists, even)
