Vancouver Rallys To Defeat Calgary 4-3
For the second straight game the Vancouver Giants won in a shootout, defeating the Calgary Hitmen 4-3 Friday night at the Saddledome for their 29th victory of the season. The Giants have now won 3 straight games and 13 of their last 16.
Vancouver got off to a poor start going down 2-0 to Calgary, but Brendan Gallagher would score his 35th of the season with just 3 seconds left in the period to cut the lead to one after 20 minutes. Calgary outshot the Giants 7-4 in the opening frame.
The Hitmen added to their lead in the second period as Trevor Cheek converted a 2-on-0 to put the home team up 3-1. Vancouver though would hang tough; Michael Burns tipped home a Brendan Rowinski pass for his 10th of the year to get the Giants back within one after two periods of play.
Just before the midway point of the third period, Darren Bestland was assessed a five minute major for elbowing and a game misconduct for his hit on Brendan Santini. The Giants would then take two straight minor penalties and as a result they were forced to kill off a 5-on-3 for nearly four minutes. They did just that and then with 3:27 left in regulation Gallagher scored the equalizer on a wrap around for his 2nd of the game and 36th of the season to send the contest to extra time.
Overtime solved nothing, so for a second straight game Vancouver went to a shootout. Mark Segal stopped all three Hitmen shooters. Brendan Gallagher missed his attempt, but Andrej Stastny made no mistake for the shootout winner to secure the Giants a 4-3 victory and another 2 points. Gallagher, Rowinski, and Bennett all finished with 2 points, while Segal made 20 saves for his 22nd win of the season.
Vancouver wraps up its five game road trip tomorrow night in Cranbrook vs. the Kootenay Ice. Game time is 6:00pm PST. The pregame show begins at 5:30pm PST on AM 650.
Audio – Post game interview with Giants Asst. Coach Chad Scharff (mp3)
