On a night where 50 years of Vancouver hockey memories were celebrated, the Vancouver Giants managed to create a few unforgettable memories of their own.
Saturday night, in front of 6000-plus at the Pacific Coliseum, the Vancouver Giants (19-6-2-0) grabbed their fifth straight victory, a 5-2 decision over the visiting Tri-City Americans (14-10-1-0).
Dawson Holt and Milos Roman each recorded a goal and an assist for the Giants who also got singles from Brayden Watts, Evan Patrician, and Bowen Byram.
David Tendeck was solid between the pipes making 24 saves on 26 shots faced.
Tri-City countered with second-period power-play goals from Isaac Johnson and Parker AuCoin, while Beck Warm stopped 32 of the 36 shots he faced in the Tri-City goal.
BOX SCORE
1st Period:
The Giants led 2-0 after one after outshooting the Ams 13-7.
Roman extended his goal-scoring streak to five games when he tipped home a point shot from Dylan Plouffe.
For Roman it was his team-leading 15th goal.
Then at 12:46, right as he left the penalty box, rookie Patrician scooped up a puck, skated down the right-wing and from the middle of the faceoff circle wired a shot up and over the right shoulder of Warm to secure his first career WHL goal.
2nd Period:
Both teams scored twice in the middle period.
Tri-City struck first when Isaac Johnson one-timed a Samuel Stewart pass home for his 10th at 8:25.
Holt restored the Giants two-goal lead at 14:26 when he roofed his fifth of the season over Warm’s shoulder from in close along the left-wing. Owen Hardy drew the lone assist on Holt’s marker.
Tri-City moved back within one at 16:35 when AuCoin parked himself in front of Tendeck, took a pass in close, and then spun and fired home his 13th.
Less than a minute later though, the Giants made it 4-2 when Watts lifted his fifth goal of the season past the stick of Warm off a slick feed from Holt.
Shots in the second were 15-9 Giants.
3rd Period:
The Giants penalty kill came up big in the third period going three-for-three.
Their biggest test came in the final minutes where Tri-City was given a 58-second five-on-three opportunity with 2:18 remaining.
The only goal that came from that though was a short-handed empty-netter courtesy of Byram at 18:55 off a great defensive clear by Davis Koch at the Giants blueline.
The next Giants game happens tonight (Sunday, Dec. 2) at 4 p.m. back home at the Langley Events Centre (LEC), with the Tri-City Americans looking for a rematch. The G-Men are back at the Pacific Coliseum for another game next Saturday, as well. This is their former home ice, prior to moving to their currrent home-base at the LEC in Langley back in 2016.
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BY THE NUMBERS:
• Final Score: Vancouver Giants 5 – Tri-City Americans 2
• Final Shots: 37-26 Vancouver
• Giants Power Play: 1/4 (Plus 1 SHG)
• Americans Power Play: 2/7
• David Tendeck: 24/26 saves for Vancouver (10-5-1-0)
• Beck Warm: 32/36 saves for Tri-City (13-10-1-0)
• Davis Koch and Dylan Plouffe both extended their respective point-streaks to 8 straight games
• Plouffe assisted on Milos Roman’s goal in the first period and now has three goals and seven assists for 10 points in that span
• Davis Koch assisted on Bowen Byram’s empty-net goal in the third and now has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in that eight-game span
• Milos Roman has now scored in five-straight games for the Giants. During that span, Roman has also added three assists for eight total points
• With the win the Giants improved their record against the US division to 5-4-1-0.
• The Giants power play has now scored in five consecutive games – during that stretch the power play has gone 7/23 (30.4%)
• It took 37 games for the Giants to arrive at 19 wins a season ago. Meaning, the Giants have arrived at their 19th win a full 10 games ahead of last season
