Vancouver Giants hosted an Eastern Conference team for the first time this season Friday, Oct. 14 at Langley Events Centre, and the Brandon Wheat Kings spoiled the party with a 4-2 win.

Brandon opened the scoring when overall WHL Bantam Draft pick Roger McQueen scored 1:06 into the game with a deflection in front of the net.

Giants’ Ty Thorpe answered with a redirection of his own on the power play 15 minutes later against his former team.

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Vancouver was briefly ahead in the second period, after Ethan Semeniuk buried a shorthanded goal at 7:28 with a breakaway deke.

Jesper Vikman stopped 31 of 35 shots for Vancouver against the Brandon Wheat Kings Friday, Oct. 14 at Langley Events Centre.(Rob Wilton/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Less than thirty seconds later, Brett Hyland scored on that same power play to tie the game at two.

In the third, Jake Chiasson brought the Wheat Kings back ahead with another power play goal midway through the third.

Then, Brandon added one more power play goal with 3:36 remaining in the game with a high tip by Rylen Roersma.

Final score: Brandon 4 – Vancouver 2

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Zack Ostapchuk, back from Ottawa Senators training camp, made his debut as captain.

Giants had made it official prior to the game, announcing their captains for the 2022-23 Western Hockey League season.

Ostapchuk, the captain, dominated the WHL Playoffs last spring with 23 points in 12 games.

Alternates are Tom Cadieux and Ty Thorpe.

Mazden Leslie tangled with a Wheat Kings player Friday night, Oct. 14 at Langley Events Centre. Brandon won 4-2. (Rob Wilton/Special to Langley Advance Times)

Acquired at the trade deadline last year from the Regina Pats, Cadieux leads the Vancouver blueline with 174 career WHL games played.

Thorpe, last season’s “Unsung Hero” award winner for the Giants, is among the best in the league in the faceoff dot.

Cadieux and Thorpe are two of the three 20-year-olds on the Giants this season, and Thorpe wore an “A” for parts of last season.

“We’re really happy with the leadership in the dressing room this year,” said Giants General Manager Barclay Parneta. “We have a larger leadership group, but Zack, Tom, and Ty have a major impact on their teammates and represent the Giants with maturity and class.”

Nex, Giants host the Winnipeg ICE at the Langley Events Centre next Wednesday night, Oct. 19, puck drop is 7PM.