Vancouver Giants earned a 3-2 road victory in Kamloops Saturday night (Feb. 1) on the strength of David Tendeck’s 40 saves and three second-period goals.
It was the third win in a row for the Giants, who have climbed back into the top three of the B.C. Division standings.
Tristen Nielsen scored twice in a three-goal second period for the Giants and goaltender David Tendeck stopped 40 shots in a first-star performance.
Josh Pillar and Connor Zary responded with goals for Kamloops who received 23 combined saves from Dylan Garand and Rayce Ramsay.
The Giants power play continued its recent surge, going two-for-four while the penalty went three-for-three.
RECAP: @ArizonaCoyotes prospect David Tendeck made 40 saves Saturday helping the Giants secure a weekend sweep of the B.C. Division leading Kamloops Blazers.
More 📎: https://t.co/KrC0Y5MhpH
📸: Allen Douglas pic.twitter.com/nQ2INpT4hE
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) February 2, 2020
In the first period, Josh Pillar opened the scoring for Kamloops, following up a Ryan Hughes rebound and knocked it past David Tendeck at 15:21.
Tristen Nielsen potted his first of two goals of the night on a breakaway at 8:49 of the second to tie the score. Justin Sourdif and Milos Roman both assisted.
Kamloops goaltender Dylan Garand left the game at 16:01 of the second period after a collision with Tristen Nielsen.
Blazers defenceman Quinn Schmiemann tripped Nielsen on his way to the net, which caused the collision. Schmiemann was penalized and Rayce Ramsay entered the game for Kamloops.
Nielsen then one-timed an Eric Florchuk feed by Ramsay on a five-on-three power play, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
Just 31 seconds later, Justin Sourdif took a pass from Cole Shepard, skated into the slot and stuffed a low shot past Ramsay’s right pad to give the Giants a 3-1 lead.
During the third period, Connor Zary moved Kamloops back within one when he tipped home a cross-ice pass from Inaki Bargano at 10:46.Ryan Hughes added the second assist on Zary’s third goal of the weekend.
Final Score: Vancouver 3 – Kamloops 2.
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Tendeck was first star of the game, with Blazers Zane Franklin and Ryan Hughes second and third.
Saturday’s victory helped the G-Men improve their road record to 12-10-1-2.
With the win, the Giants have now moved ahead of Kelowna for third place in the B.C. Division.
Both Giants and the Rockets have 49 points, but Vancouver has played in two fewer games and have a higher winning percentage.
The Giants are now 2-3-1-0 against Kamloops and 12-7-3-2 against the B.C. Division.
Next up: a Tuesday (Feb. 4) home showdown at the Langley Events Centre against the Tri-City Americans at 7 p.m.
