Brendan De Jong scored on his own rebound, sending the Portland Winterhawks to a 2-1 overtime victory.
A burst of speed helped De Jong get a step on his man and after Trent Miner made the initial save, De Jong was able to get to the loose puck and end the game 76 seconds into three-on-three overtime on Saturday night at Langley Events Centre.
The two Western Hockey League rivals were playing the back-end of a home-and-home series, both of which were won by the Winterhawks. Portland scored three times in the third period of the first game, erasing a 3-2 deficit to prevail 5-3.
Portland improved to 7-3-0-1 while the Giants now sit at 9-2-2-0.
And while back-to-back losses are never ideal, Vancouver head coach Michael Dyck was impressed by his team’s performance, especially considering the circumstances. The Giants were playing their sixth game in the past nine days and did not arrive home until this morning at 6 a.m.
They are also missing two key regulars in captain Matt Barberis and captain Jared Dymtriw and then lost leading scorer James Malm in the second period to an upper-body injury.
“I thought we did what we had to do. We are a depleted team … the guys looked a bit tired to start the game but we got better as the game went on,” he said. “It all came down a bounce here or there.”
The Giants attention to defensive detail, especially when it comes to checking the opponent, have been key to the team’s strong start to the season.
“That is probably the best puck possession team in the Western Hockey League. They do a great job with their transition game utilizing all five guys on the ice. In order to take them to a one-goal hockey game you have to check well,” Dyck said.
Portland opened the scoring 13:08 into the contest. Vancouver’s Yannik Valenti hit the crossbar at one end of the ice and the Winterhawks transitioned the puck the other way with Reece Newkirk converting a two-on-one.
Denied in the opening period, Valenti found the back of the net 7:11 into the second, taking a pass from Hunor Torzsok and after Shane Farkas made the initial save, Valenti tracked the rebound and scored on a back-hander for his first career WHL goal.
“He got that going by his strong performance yesterday. That was his best game by far. When you start doing things the right way, good things are going to happen for you,” Dyck said about his rookie German import player.
The final shots on goal were 33-19 for the Winterhawks with Miner sparkling in his first start since Oct. 6. His goals against average now sits at 1.32 and his save percentage is an impressive .955 in three starts.
Miner was an integral part in the Giants killing off all five Portland man advantages as the Winterhawks entered the contest with the league’s top-ranked power play at 30.5 per cent.
“He was our best penalty killer tonight. But the four guys in front of him, shift after shift, did a great job of blocking shots and shutting down a pretty potent power play,” Dyck said.
Vancouver continues their busy stretch of hockey as they host the Kelowna Rockets on Sunday (Oct. 21) at Langley Events Centre. Puck drop is at 4 p.m.
The Rockets are coming off a pair of impressive victories over Victoria, winning 8-2 and 5-1 on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
