Former Powell River Kings/Penticton Vees goalie Michael Garteig turned aside 28 shots to help the Vancouver Canucks improve to 1-1 in the Young Stars Classic.
The Jets fired 11 shots at Garteig in the final period forcing him to make a few key saves, especially with Jamie Phillips pulled.
“The team played well enough in front of me that they didn’t give up too many,” said Garteig, who got some cheers from the home fans in the crowd of 4.113 in attendance. “When they have the goalie pulled like that there is going to be opportunity. Lucky enough to make a couple of nice saves at the end and preserve the win.”
Garteig’s former teammate with the Vees Troy Stecher helped give the Canucks a 1-0 lead when he set up Danny Moynihan at 11:16 of the first. Stecher fired a shot from inside the blue line with the rebound coming out to Moynihan. The Canucks built on their lead with a buzzer beater in the second as Michael Carcone and Tyler Coulter found Cole Cassels in the slot. Cassels was able to hammer the puck home with .03 seconds remaining.
The Jets did manage to finally solve Garteig, but it took a couple of turnovers for it to happen. First at the Jets blue line Olli Joulevi mishandled the puck on the power play allowing Michael Spacek to break in on Garteig. With Garteig down and his legs spread out, Spacek had just enough room to tuck the puck between Garteig’s skate and the post. Nearly five minutes later, the Canucks failed to clear the puck as Rodrigo Abols and Curtis Valk got mixed up in their zone when Jimmy Lodge beat Garteig high over his shoulder.
Tyler Coulter put the Canucks back ahead for good with a wrist shot beating Phillips glove side at 10:47.
Garteig said it was nice to get the first win out of the way.
“I thought the guys played really well tonight, especially in the second period,” he said. “Overall we had the win and that’s all that matters.”
Stecher, who finished plus-one with an assist, said the team got off to a better start than Friday.
“We talked about getting pucks and bodies to the net and good things are going to happen,” said Stecher. “Tonight we had some better opportunities in front of the net and capitalized on a couple chances.”
The Canucks finished with 28 shots on goal after peppering Phillips with 14 in the second period alone.
The Canucks Young Stars Classic wraps up Monday with the Oilers hosting the Jets at 11 a.m. and the Canucks playing host to the Flames at 3 p.m. Both games are in the SOEC.
