An unlikely hero provided the winning goal as the Vancouver Giants rallied late to defeat the Kamloops Blazers.
Defenceman Kaleb Bulych scored in the 13th round of a marathon shootout on Friday night as the Giants defeated the Blazers 4-3 at Langley Events Centre for their fifth straight Western Hockey League victory.
Luc Smith had given the visiting Blazers a 3-1 lead with less than five minutes to play, but Davis Koch cut the deficit to one and Milos Roman forced overtime with 11 seconds to play.
Connor Zary gave Kamloops the advantage in the shootout when he scored in the second round but Bowen Byram scored in the third round to extend the game. The Blazers’ Dylan Garand and Vancouver’s David Tendeck combined to stop the next 18 shots after that before Bulych beat Garand for the winner and Kamloops’ Quinn Schmiemann cranked his shot off the crossbar.
Vancouver improved to 7-1-0-0 with the win while the Blazers fell to 2-5-0-1.
Jared Dmytriw opened the scoring for the Giants 91 seconds in before Zane Franklin responded with a short-handed marker in the final minute of the opening frame. Smith made it 2-1 Kamloops with the lone goal of the second period.
RECENT COVERAGE: Giants earn a weekend sweep in Prince George
Vancouver is back in action when they visit the Victoria Royals on Saturday (Oct. 13) night in a battle of the top two teams in the B.C. division. In fact, they’re playing back-to-back games in Victoria this weekend.
• More to come
