The Giants’ 3-1 win over the Blazers extended Vancouver’s overall winning streak to five games and has coach Michael Dyck believing it’s “really starting to come. The fact that we stayed cool says we’re taking steps in the right direction”.
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The Vancouver Giants visit conference leader Everett Silvertips tonight (6:05 pm, www.sportsnet650.ca ) with a five-game winning streak and possibly his best effort of the year.
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Vancouver (12-7-1-0) won their first game in five meetings with the Kamloops Blazers (17-3-0-0) this season on Friday, taking a 3-1 decision in one night at Langley Events Center. when they were fast, they swarmed the forecheck and physical for long stretches.
When Kamloops took the board at the 2:51 p.m. mark of the third thanks to Ethan Brandwood’s long shot that deflected from Jesper Vikman’s blocker, Vancouver never panicked and gave very little in the final five minutes.
The Blazers had beaten the Giants in their first four meetings this season, beating them 20-6. The Blazers are the only team to beat the Silvertips (18-1-1-1) in regulation, with a 3-2 scoreline over the Western Conference favorites last Saturday in Everett.
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The Blazers were the No. 2 team in the national rankings last week. The Silvertips were number 3.
“I liked the way we played and when we had a few lapses, Jesper Vikman stood out for us,” Giants coach Michael Dyck said of Friday against Kamloops. “I thought our best players were our best players for us. They played very well. “
When asked if that’s the closest he’s looking for with his team as we’ve seen this season, Dyck said: “Yeah, in pieces, but it’s really starting to come. The fact that we maintained our composure indicates that we are taking steps in the right direction. “
Vancouver’s five-game winning streak includes four two-goal victories and a single goal won. Vikman received the goal call in four of the five and stopped 139 of 146 shots (.952 save percentage) in that stretch. Vikman, the Swede who is a Vegas Golden Knights prospect, made 39 saves against the Blazers and several of the most prominent. The highlight of the night was deploying to his right to get his blocker in a single time off the stick of Kamloops star Logan Stankoven at 7:38 of the second period with the score 1-0.
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Vikman’s thoughts on saving Stankoven? “How the hell did I get that?” he said later.
Zack Ostaphcuk, with his fourth, opened the scoring for Vancouver at the 18:50 mark of the first period with a superlative feed from Alex Cotton. Rookie Ethan Semeniuk, with his third, took the eventual winner of the game at 4:50 of the third. Payton Mount, with his fifth, scored on empty goal at 0:32 to play.
The Giants continue their 12-game season series with the Blazers on Wednesday with a visit to Kamloops. Giants captain Justin Sourdif begins Team Canada’s youth world test camp Thursday in Calgary and won’t be ready for Vancouver in Kamloops that game. Vancouver also loses Dyck to the junior world championships. He is an assistant for the Canadian team.
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Reference-theprovince.com