A three-goal third period sent the Vancouver Giants to a season-high sixth straight victory.
Trailing 2-1 after 40 minutes, the Giants struck for a trio of goals in a 7:50 span to double up the Tri-City Americans 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at Langley Events Centre. The two teams also played the night before at the Pacific Coliseum with Vancouver winning 5-2.
With the victories, the Giants sit at 20-6-2-0 and continue to lead the Western Hockey League’s B.C. Division. Tri-City, playing their third game in less than 72 hours, fell to 14-11-1-0.
“We are happy that we were able to grit this one out. We didn’t like our start, we weren’t good in the first period,” said Giants coach Michael Dyck. “We got some pushback in the second and played our game for two periods.”
The Americans had the only goal of the opening frame, scoring short-handed as Blake Stevenson fired a perfect shot over Miner’s shoulder on a two-on-one.
The first period saw Tri-City outshoot Vancouver 16-10 as they enjoyed three power-plays, including 1:16 of a two-man advantage.
Vancouver came out much stronger in the second and were rewarded 5:26 in when after some sustained pressure, captain Jared Dmytriw beat Beck Warm to tie things up at one. The lead was short-lived however, as Isaac Johnson one-timed a shot from the face-off circles on an Americans power play to give the visitors the lead less than 90 seconds later.
Aidan Barfoot tied the score at two 7:26 into the final frame before Davis Koch extended his point streak to nine games with a power-play goal at 13:49.
“That was a big moment for us. The guys did a great job in executing it and that is what you need in tight games like that,” Dyck said about the team’s power play, which scored for the sixth straight game and now has goals in eight of the last nine games (13-for-44, 29.5 per cent).
And after Trent Miner came up with a pair of clutch stops – he finished with 26 saves on the night – Milos Roman added an insurance marker, his sixth straight game of finding the back of the net.
Vancouver has now scored 35 third-period goals, their most productive 20 minutes.
“Having done it enough I think they have a lot of confidence in each other and the game plan and there really is no fear coming into the third period right now,” Dyck said.
“We just focus on our game and now the results will follow.”
The Giants – who just finished a stretch of four games in six days – are off now until Saturday (Dec. 8) when they play the Victoria Royals back at the Coliseum for teddy bear toss night.
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BY THE NUMBERS:
• Final Score: Vancouver 4 – Tri-City 2
• Final Shots: 34-28 Vancouver
• Vancouver: 1/3 on the Power Play
• Tri-City:1/4 on the Power Play (Plus a shorthanded goal)
• Trent Miner: 24 saves on 26 shots faced for Vancouver
• Beck Warm: 30 saves on 34 shots faced for Tri-City
• During Davis Koch’s nine-game point streak, he’s scored six goals and 10 assists for 16 points.
• The Giants power play has converted in six straight games. During that span the power play has gone 8/26 (30.7 per cent)
• The Giants have arrived at the 20-win mark 11 games faster than they did a season ago. Last season they arrived at win number 20 on Jan. 1, 2018 against Prince George.
• The Giants have now won four games this season when trailing after 40 minutes. Their overall record when trailing after two periods is 4-5-1-0.
• The Giants are now 6-4-1-0 against teams from the US division.
