Vancouver Giants defenceman saves shutout by taking puck in face

Article content

The Vancouver Giants’ 3-0 shutout Friday night of the Everett Silvertips included a face save by defenceman Dylan Anderson. 

Article content

With 6:10 remaining in the game, Anderson dove into the crease to swat away a loose puck after a shot by Everett’s Raphael Pelletier squeaked between the pads of Vancouver netminder Jesper Vikman.

Article content

Anderson’s clearing attempt went directly to onrushing Silvertip Jesse Heslop, who rifled it back and hit the prone Anderson in the mouth. When the play stopped, a clearly bleeding Anderson went directly to Giants dressing room.

He didn’t return to the game. Giants general manager Barclay Parneta said Saturday morning that the medical checks Friday were positivie and he thinks Anderson will play tonight, when Vancouver (26-29-5-3) visits Everett (31-30-2-1).

“That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” Vikman, who finished with 32 save on the night, said of the Anderson play. “I thought the puck was in and then I see the puck sitting on the goal line and him bleeding. Props to him. It shows what type of character he is.”

Article content

Article content

Tonight’s game does have special meaning for Anderson. He played 143 games over six seasons with the Silvertips before coming to the Giants for this final season of junior hockey eligibilty for him, and this would be his final game ever in Everett, barring a playoff meeting.

Vancouver has five games remaining in the regular season and sits in seventh place in the WHL’s Western Conference, five points up on the eighth-place Kelowna Rockets (26-36-3-0) and five in back of sixth-place Everett. The Giants have one game in hand on the Silvertips and two on the Rockets.

An Anderson absence of any sort would sting. The 20-year-old is the Giants’ most experienced blue liner and plays in all situations. Vancouver’s second most experienced rearguard is Carson Haynes, who turned 20 a few weeks back, and he missed Friday with an upper body injury. There’s no word on when he might be back.

Article content

All the injury news isn’t bleak, though. Vancouver goes from Everett to Kennewick, Wash., to face the Tri-City Americans on Sunday and then is at the Portland Winterhawks on Tuesday, and coach Michael Dyck said Friday night that winger Samuel Honzek (upper body injury) was going to make the trip.

That would certainly suggest that he’s close to playing. Honzek, who’s Vancouver’s most gifted player and a projected first-round pick in this summer’s NHL Draft, missed his third straight game on Friday. He left a March 10 game in Kelowna after taking a high hit from Rocket forward Carson Golder.

Friday marked Vikman’s first shutout of the season. Goals came from Jaden Lipinski, Colton Roberts and Ty Thorpe. It was Thorpe’s 35th of the season, and he’s the first Giant to hit that mark since Ty Ronning went for a team-record 61 goals in 2017-18.

Article content

🎥HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT🎥

Ty Thorpe does what Ty Thorpe wants.@WHLGiants | #WHLHoN pic.twitter.com/nfLLyI9qWR

— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 18, 2023

Support our journalism: Our in-depth journalism is possible thanks to the support of our subscribers. For just $3.50 per week, you can get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.