The Vancouver Giants made it seven in a row on Wednesday night, extending their season-high streak.
On Wednesday, it looked for a while like the Giants might have run out of luck, if not out of steam.
The team was looking strong, outshooting the Red Deer Rebels by a two-to-one margin in the first two periods at the Langley Events Centre.
But it was the Rebels who drew first blood with a goal at 5:28 of the third period.
Vancouver then roared ahead in the final 15 minutes of the game, ending the game with a convincing 4-1 win.
Tristen Nielsen, Michael Kvassnica, Bowen Byram, and Justin Sourdif all scored for the Giants.
“We were doing a lot of good things, but pucks weren’t bouncing our way,” said Giants head coach Michael Dyck.
But the team stuck to the game plan, and the Giants did not implode, as they might have when faced with the same struggle before Christmas, Dyck said.
Wednesday’s win came after the team extended its winning streak to six, with back-to-back home ice wins on the weekend.
After scoring just three goals in a three-game winless streak, the Giants exploded offensively.
And even better for the team was the fact they continued receiving contributions from up and down the line-up, with five different goal scorers finding the back of the net on Saturday en route to a 5-2 win over the Prince George Cougars.
Leading the way on Saturday was defenceman Seth Bafaro – known more for his steady play in the defensive zone – who had a goal and two assists for his second career three-point game (both of which have come this season against Prince George).
Bafaro also has five points in his last two games after registering 14 points in the first 47 games this season.
“Just been playing the same way, throwing pucks to the net and getting lucky,” Bafaro said.
“And a couple of guys are heating up as well, which is helping me out too.”
Then, on Sunday afternoon, the G-Men battled back after Kamloops Blazers tied the score with half a period to play.
“They made it 3-3 – probably the team before Christmas would have buckled a little bit, but this team did a really good job of getting the momentum, and once we got it back, we protected it,” Dyck said.
“Every time they got momentum, we pushed back quickly.”
Vancouver scored four unanswered goals as part of a five-goal period to defeat Kamloops 7-3 at Langley Events Centre.
“It really wasn’t a 7-3 game. We were grinding that one out the whole time,” said Giants captain Alex Kannok Leipert. “It was a good, hard-fought game, a playoff game. That was a high-pace game. Those are the ones you love to have.”
For the second straight game, Dyck wasn’t happy with his team’s middle staza.
“We challenged the guys. We needed to be better. At that point, we weren’t happy with the way they were playing, and we needed a bigger push from them,” he said.
