Vancouver Giants head coach Jason McKee called Friday night’s game in Swift Current as one of the best overall efforts he’s seen from his team since he started the job last season.
Over the past 48 hours the Langley’s G-Men (2-4-1-1) have taken the two top teams in the Eastern Conference to the limit.
Tonight (Saturday) at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw, the Giants erased a 3-1 second period deficit in what ultimately ended up as a 4-3 overtime loss against the Moose Jaw Warriors (7-1-0-0).
That OT loss comes on the heals of another hard fought game on Friday in Swift Current, said Giants play-by-play broadcaster Dan O’Connor.
During Saturday’s game, Jayden Halbgewachs struck 52 seconds into the extra period to secure the Warriors victory while Brett Howden chipped in with three helpers. Brayden Watts led the Giants attack with two goals while Milos Roman had two assists.
Less than 24 hours removed from a tough 1-0 loss in Swift Current, the Giants started strong, O’Connor shared from the road.
At 3:11 of the opening period former Warrior Brayden Watts tipped home a Kaleb Bulych point shot past Warriors netminder Brody Willms and in for his first of two goals on the night.
Warriors d-man Jett Woo responded for Moose Jaw at 12:26 when his shot from the right point snuck through a maze of bodies and past Giants goaltender Todd Scott. Scott would finish the game with 28 saves on 32 shots faced and has earned a point for his team in back-to-back starts.
After 20 minutes the shots were 8-6 Vancouver and the score was 1-1.
Early in the middle period the Warriors grabbed the lead when Justin Almeida took a pass from Brett Howden and snapped a quick shot past Scott’s blocker. Almeida’s fifth came at 2:57 and was followed by a Brayden Burke power play strike at 10:24 to make it a 3-1 game.
McKee’s team dug their heels in though, and fought back with two of their own, O’Connor said.
First it was Watts, who knocked home his second of the night (at 12:09) into a wide-open net off a great rush with Dawson Holt and Brendan Semchuk.
Then in the waning minutes of second the Giants got some puck luck when Dylan Plouffe’s shot from the left point deflected past Willms off a Moose Jaw defender standing in front. Plouffe’s goal came at 18:35 and marked the first goal of the season courtesy of a Giants defenceman.
Shots were 23-19 for the Warriors through two and the score was 3-3, which is how things would stay through the final 20 minutes.
Both Brody Willms and Todd Scott made great saves for their respective teams. Scott’s best sequence of saves came off Justin Almeida and Howden who each had chances in close.
“For the second time in three games, 60 minutes weren’t enough and the Giants would need overtime to determine their fate,” O’Connor said.
Then, 52 seconds into the extra period Warriors forward Halbgewachs raced up the ice down the right wing, beat the defending Giant wide and after cutting to his forehand in front of the Giants goal had just enough space near the left post to sneak home a shot past a diving Scott.
The final shots were 32-26 for the Warriors who went one-for-four on their power play chances. Vancouver went zero-for-two on their man-advantage opportunities.
The single point means that the Giants have earned at least a point in four of their past six games and each of their past four games have been decided by a single goal.
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Reflecting back on Friday night’s play
The Giants threw 38 shots at the Swift Current net and at times were dominant against the league’s top team, which remain without a loss thanks to their 1-0 victory against the Giants Friday night.
The league’s leading scorer Tyler Steenbergen snagged the game’s lone goal at 11:54 of the second period spoiling what was otherwise another terrific goaltending performance from Giants starter David Tendeck.
At the other side, veteran Logan Flodell was equally as strong stopping all 38 pucks fired his way.
Fresh off a shootout loss Tuesday, the Giants played aggressive and inspired hockey from the initial drop of the puck, O’Connor said.
They outshot the Broncos 17-12 and did a great job of containing the Broncos top trio of Tyler Steenbergen, Aleksi Heponiemi, and Glenn Gawdin, he added.
Tendeck’s first key save of the night came off a point-blank chance from Gawdin.
Vancouver continued to win puck battles, force turnovers, and played a strong transition game that gave them some good looks on Flodell. But, the 20-year-old stood his ground as well keeping the game scoreless after one.
After a back-and-forth start to the second the Broncos finally outwitted Tendeck, when Steenbergen raced up the ice down the right wing, beat the defence wide before sneaking home a low shot home for his league-leading 16th goal of the season.
The Giants pushed back and nearly tied it in the later stages, but Flodell denied Matt Barberis on a pair of chances and the home side took a 1-0 lead into the final period despite being outshot 25-23.
McKee’s crew kept the pedal down in the third, and Flodell made a number of clutch saves early.
His best sequence of saves came off Ty Ronning who “just” missed the top left corner after a desperation glove save from a diving Flodell.
To his credit, Tendeck kept his team within striking distance when he denied Steenbergen on a breakaway.
“Unfortunately for the Giants, they couldn’t solve Flodell, and the Broncos held on to earn their eighth straight victory to start the season.
The final shots were 38-30 for the Giants who killed off all three of their penalties. They finished the game zero-for-one on the power play.
The Giants record now sits at 2-4-0-1 and they were looking to earn their first road victory of the season when they clash with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Up next for Vancouver, they play the Prince Albert Raiders (3-4-1-0) on Tuesday evening at the Art Hauser Centre.
