Vancouver Giants fall to Seattle

Sixth straight loss for Langley-based team

Saturday night in Kent, WA the Vancouver Giants dropped a 7-2 decision to the Seattle Thunderbirds.

Lukas Svejkovsky paced the Seattle attack with a goal and three assists while Reid Schaefer and Lucas Ciona each struck twice.

Justin Lies and Adam Hall provided third period goals for the Giants who trailed 3-0 after one, and 5-0 after two.

Jesper Vikman and Will Gurski combined for 30 saves on 37 shots faced while rookie Scott Ratzlaff stopped 27 of the 29 Vancouver shots fired his way.

It was the sixth straight loss for the Giants.

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Thunderbirds scored 24 seconds into the game when Reid Schaefer snapped his 18th of the season past Jesper Vikman off the rush from the right wing.

Lucas Ciona then tucked home a Lukas Svejkovsky rebound at 13:57 to make it 2-0, and Jordan Gustafson (17) one-timed a Connor Roulette feed home from the high slot at 19:02 to round.

The Giants thought they’d tied the game at 1-1 at the 9:33 mark, but a Cole Shepard power play goal was called back due to accidental goaltender interference.

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T-Birds added two more goals in the second period.

At 9:13 Lukas Svejkovsky raced down the right wing and wired a shot past Jesper Vikman to make it a 4-0 Seattle lead.

That led to Will Gurski replacing Vikman for the remainder of the game in the Giants goal.

Giants relief netminder Will Gurski stopped 19 of 22 shots Saturday, Feb. 5, in Seattle (Brian Liesse/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Giants relief netminder Will Gurski stopped 19 of 22 shots Saturday, Feb. 5, in Seattle (Brian Liesse/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Lucas Ciona added his second of the game on a power play at 16:06 to give the T-Birds a 5-0 advantage after two periods.

Each team struck twice in the final frame.

Justin Lies got the offense started for Vancouver with his seventh of the season at 4:49 off a shot from the right-wing circle during a delayed penalty.

Reid Schaefer answered with his second of the night for Seattle off a two-on-one conversion with Jared Davidson.

Just under two minutes later Sam Popowich (5) one-timed a Lukas Svejkovsky pass through Gurski’s legs to make it 7-1.

Adam Hall grabbed the game’s final goal for the Giants off an individual shorthanded effort. Hall’s 12th goal of the season was unassisted.

Both teams were set to meet again at the Langley Events Centre on Sunday, Feb. 6, but the game was cancelled “due to WHL COVID-19 protocols impacting the Vancouver Giants,” according to statement from the team and the WHL


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