Vancouver Giants made a move up in the standings on Friday night, March 15, hopping the Victoria Royals for sixth place in the Western Conference following a 3-1 win over the Kamloops Blazers at the Langley Events Centre.
The game was knotted 1-1 for much of the night, until Ty Halaburda’s go-ahead goal with just 4:21 left in regulation, which was his 21st tally of the season. Jaden Lipinski (21st) and Connor Levis (22nd, empty-net goal) also scored in the win.
Brett Mirwald was fabulous yet again in the victory, stopping 33 of 34 shots, including a flurry of action in the final minutes with the goaltender pulled for the extra attacker. The Saskatoon, Sask. product is now 14-3-2 in his last 19 games.
Head Coach Manny Viveiros called it a “tough game.”
“They came after us at the very beginning and got out to an early lead and made it pretty difficult for us, but I thought after the 10-minute mark of the first period, we kind of got our legs going again and then we started creating some chances from our forecheck and then we settled in.”
Viveiros said the team is building towards the first round of the playoffs.
“As a group, our goal is fifth place [in the standings]. Our kids wanted this game real bad and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy against Kamloops, because like I said before, they give you nothing for free.”
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The lone Blazers goal came from rookie Max Sullivan, his third of the year.
With the win, Giants carry an overall record of 31-29-4-0 (66 points), which places them one point behind the fifth-place Kelowna Rockets (67 points), with a game in hand.
Giants have four games left on the schedule.
Tonight, Saturday, March 16, Giants hit the road for a rematch with Kamloops at 6 p.m., before wrapping up the 3-in-3 on Sunday, when they’ll host Prince George at 4 p.m.
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