Three different Vancouver Giants had multi-goal games on Saturday night, March 17, in an emphatic 9-2 win over the Kamloops Blazers at the Sandman Centre.
The win – coupled with a Kelowna Rockets loss to Everett – means the Giants have hopped Kelowna for fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
Defenceman Logen Hammett led the way offensively with a career-high five points on two goals (7th, 8th) and three assists, while Cameron Schmidt notched his second hat-trick of the season, giving him 29 goals on the year. Connor Levisalso had two goals (23rd, 24th), while Sam Honzek (10th) and Tomis Marinkovic(4th) provided the other Giants tallies.
Blazers tallies on Saturday came from Emmitt Finnie and Jordan Keller.
Brett Mirwald didn’t have a busy night for his standards, but still finished with 30 saves on 32 shots for his 29th win of the season. The Saskatoon, Sask. product is now 15-3-2 in his last 20 games.
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Associate Coach Adam Maglio was celebrating the team’s first win on the road since Feb. 14
“I thought our details were there early on,” Maglio commented.
“I just felt like everyone was in sync tonight and we were really connected.”
Maglio described Hammett as a “stablizer.”
“He plays hard, but he’s disciplined within his game, so he doesn’t get caught running around. He’s positionally sound. He knows how to check without taking penalties. He plays the game the right way and he plays the game hard, but he’s always kind of had a little bit of that offensive potential that we saw tonight.”
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The Giants carry an overall record of 32-29-4-0 (68 points), which places them two points behind the fourth-place Wenatchee Wild (70 points), although the Wild have a game in hand.
Giants have three games left on the schedule and finish the season with a home-and-home against the Rockets on March 22 and 23.
The Giants wrap up their 3-in-3 on Sunday afternoon at LEC, when they host Prince George at 4 p.m.
