Friday night in Lethbridge, Alta. the Vancouver Giants fell just short in a 4-3 decision against the city’s Hurricanes.
The trio of Jake Elmer (2G, 1A), Taylor Ross (1G, 2A) and Dylan Cozens (1A) combined for seven points for the Hurricanes (20-10-4-4) who scored twice in both the second and third periods.
The Giants (23-12-2-0) countered with goals from Owen Hardy, Justin Sourdif, and Bowen Byram.
Goalie David Tendeck made 24 saves for the Langley-based G-Men, while Liam Hughes made 33 saves for Lethbridge.
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BOX SCORE
1st Period:
Both goaltenders were sharp in period one.
Hurricanes starter Hughes stopped all 10 Giants shots fired his way, while Tendeck went seven-for-seven for the Giants.
2nd Period:
The Hurricanes struck twice in the first four minutes and 18 seconds of the middle frame.
Elmer potted his first of two on the night at 1:01 when he tapped home a pass from Cozens from in close.
Then Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jordy Bellerive buried his 19th of the season in close on a backhand shot to stake Lethbridge to a 2-0 lead.
Late in the second the Giants countered with two goals 33 seconds apart.
Hardy got the Giants on the board at 14:24 on a power play when he converted off a Dawson Holt pass from the left-wing to secure his eighth of the season.
Sourdif then scored his second goal in as many games when he ripped his ninth past Hughes off a low shot from the slot.
Shots in the second were 14-9 Giants and the game was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes.
3rd Period:
Then, 3:31 into the final period, Taylor Ross gave the Hurricanes their lead back when he notched his 22nd off a shot from the left-wing circle.
Then at 7:53, Elmer jammed home a Ross rebound for his second of the game which made it 4-2 Lethbridge.
Byram answered for the Giants at 16:14 on a power play when he went end-to-end on a power play down the left-wing side before tucking home a shot past Hughes for his 10th of the season.
Tendeck assisted on Byram’s marker.
That’s as close as the Giants would come though as Hughes and the Hurricanes held off a late surge from the Giants to secure the win.
The next Giants game is on Sunday afternoon in Cranbrook, against the Kootenay Ice.
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BY THE NUMBERS
• Final score: Lethbridge Hurricanes 4 – Vancouver Giants 3
• Final shots: Giants 36 – Hurricanes 28
• Giants power play: 2/5
• Hurricanes power play: 0/3
• David Tendeck: 24/28 saves for Vancouver (13-9-1-0)
• Liam Hughes: 33/36 saves for Lethbridge (10-16-3-0)
• 3 Stars: (all Lethbridge) Jake Elmer, Taylor Ross, and Liam Hughes
• Three players made their Giants debut on Friday night: Defencemen Seth Bafaro and Dallas Hines, along with forward Jadon Joseph. Joseph assisted on Sourdif’s second-period goal.
• Milos Roman also returned to the Giants lineup after representing Slovakia at the World Juniors for a third time. The Calgary Flames prospect had three goals and one assist with
• Rookie Sourdif has now scored goals in two straight games and has managed to score three goals in his past five games, along with one assist.
