 |
| Davis Koch scored for the Giants on Friday. |
On Friday night, the Giants pulled out all the stops to pull
out a 4-3 victory over the visiting Prince Albert Raiders in a fire wagon style
hockey contest in Game 5 of the WHL Championship series at the Langley Events
Centre. With the win, the Giants cut the Raiders lead in the best-of-seven
series to 3-2.
Game 6 is set for Sunday at 6 p.m. local time at the Art
Hauser Centre in Prince Albert. If a Game 7 is needed, it will be held on
Monday at 7 p.m. local time at the Art Hauser Centre.
Friday’s game was a contest where Giants could have easily
been watching the Raiders celebrate at centre ice with the WHL championship
trophy - the Ed Chynoweth Cup. The two clubs didn’t put on the greatest display
of defence, and there could have been way more goals in the game had it not
been for the play of Raiders star netminder Ian Scott and Giants standout
goalie David Tendeck.
When the dust settled, the Giants were able to give a final
salute to the 5,033 spectators in attendance among a joyous atmosphere for the
home side. The Giants won because they played their most desperate game of the
series, where the desperation could have been costly too.
 |
| Dylan Plouffe scored the Giants fourth goal on Friday. |
The Raiders evened things up at 1-1 at the 10:44 mark of the
first, when import left-winger Aliaksei Protas fired home the rebound from a
shot taken by linemate Sean Montgomery.
In the final seconds of the opening frame, the Giants had a
golden chance to go ahead off a set play on an offensive zone faceoff. Vancouver
won the draw to star offensive defenceman Bowen Byram, but he fired a shot wide
of the goal.
The two sides proceeded to engage in a wild and wide open
second period.
Just 2:45 into the frame, Tendeck got crossed up trying to
give the puck to one of his defenceman causing the puck to be turned over.
Raiders star right-winger Brett Leason passed the puck out to standout overage
centre Dante Hannoun, and he fired a shot past Tendeck to give the visitors a
2-1 advantage.
Only 50 seconds later, the Giants evened things up at 2-2,
when Byram fired home a shot from the left slot in the Prince Albert zone after
taking a nice set up pass from Joseph.
 |
| Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist for the Giants. |
The Giants expanded their edge to 4-2 at the 11:13 mark of the second, when rearguard Dylan Plouffe blew home a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle.
With 4:06 remaining in the third, the Raiders cut the Giants
lead to 4-3, when star overage centre Noah Gregor received a pass from Ozzy
Wiesblatt and lifted a backhander past Tendeck.
Before the second ended, Gregor had a chance to tie things
up on a breakaway, but he rang his shot off the post of the Vancouver goal.
In the third, play was tilted inside the Vancouver zone as
Tendeck stood on his head to preserve a one-goal win for his team. The Raiders
had a 15-5 edge in shots on goal in the frame.
Tendeck had to make a blocker stop off Raiders star left-winger
Cole Fonstad. The Giants puck stopper also turned away a dangerous redirection
chance from Montgomery.
There was a nervous pause when Tendeck got the glove on a long
off-speed shoot in that bounced off the ice from five feet in front of the
Vancouver goal.
The NHL Entry Draft selection of the Arizona Coyotes stopped 37 shots to keep his team’s season alive.
The NHL Entry Draft selection of the Arizona Coyotes stopped 37 shots to keep his team’s season alive.
 |
| David Tendeck made 37 saves in goal for the Giants on Friday. |
Leason finished the game with two assists and has scored points in his last eight consecutive game netting seven goals and six assists over that time.
The Raiders had offensive defenceman Max Martin back in the lineup after he missed two games after taking an awkward fall in the boards in the Raiders 4-0 win in Game 2 of the WHL final in Prince Albert.
Byram and Watts each had a goal and an assist for the
Giants, while Joseph finished with two helpers.
Saskatoon product Dawson Holt had an assist for the Giants in their win.
Saskatoon product Dawson Holt had an assist for the Giants in their win.
The excitement of Friday’s game was something you would come
to expect from the WHL’s two top clubs in the regular season.
The Raiders topped the WHL regular season standings with a
54-10-2-2 record and were rated second in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.
Vancouver finished second overall in the WHL with a
48-15-3-2 mark and was rated sixth in the final CHL Top 10 rankings.
The winner of the WHL final will earn a berth to the Memorial Cup, and this
year’s CHL championship tournament is being held May 17 to 26 in Halifax, N.S.
 |
| Dawson Holt had an assist for the Giants on Friday. |
While desperation allowed Vancouver to pull out the win, the Giants will be hard pressed to win two games in similar fashion in Prince Albert in order to capture their first WHL title since 2006.
The Raiders are in all likelihood coming out of Friday’s
game thinking they should have won. Their confidence of locking up the series
in front of their adoring fans has to be sky high.
The Giants still face a daunting task of trying to push the
series to a Game 7.
The Raiders are still in perfect position to capture their
first WHL title since 1985, and odds are still in their favour that they will
prevail.
Storm win away from Memorial Cup after 4-3
win over 67’s
On Friday, the visiting Stormed posted a 4-3 win over the
host Ottawa 67’s in Game 5 of the OHL final played before 8,855 spectators at
TD Place.
With the win, the Storm take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven
series, which they trailed 2-0 at one time. They will try to close the series
out in Game 6 in Guelph on Sunday.
Tye Felhaber gave the 67’s a 1-0 lead in the first period,
but Guelph exited the opening frame holding a 2-1 edge on goals from Cedric
Ralph and Isaac Ratcliffe.
Early in the second, Alexey Toropchenko scored for the Storm
to give the visitors a 3-1 edge. Sasha Chmelevski replied for the 67’s just
under three minute later to cut the Storm lead to 3-2.
Nate Schnarr tallied for the Storm to give the visitors a
4-2 edge heading into the second intermission.
Felhaber scored his second of the contest in the third for
the 67’s to cut the Storm lead to 4-3, but the host side couldn’t find the
equalizer.
Anthony Popovich turned away 28 shots to pick up the win in
goal for the Storm. Cedrick turned away 25 shots to take the setback in goal
for the 67’s.
The 67’s
were without star goaltender Michael DiPietro, who was injured in Ottawa’s 4-3
victory on home ice in Game 2. DiPietro is reported to have a high ankle
sprain.
The
Memorial Cup tournament for the CHL title runs from May 17 to 26 in Halifax,
N.S.
Huskies hold 3-2 edge in QMJHL final over
Mooseheads
The Huskies
took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series downing the Halifax Mooseheads 6-3
in Game 5 on Thursday before 3,428 spectators at Arena Iamgold in Rouyn-Noranda.
Game 6 of the series is set for Saturday in Halifax.
Game 5 contained some big momentum swings. The Huskies took
a 4-0 lead in the first period, but the Mooseheads cut the gap to 4-2 heading
into the first intermission.
Halifax scored early in the third to trim the Huskies lead
to 4-3. The Huskies sealed victory scoring two empty-net goals inside of the
final minute of the third period.
Rafael Harvey-Pinard netted a hat trick for the Huskies,
which included the two empty-net goals. Peter Abbandonato, Jakub Lauko and
William Cyr scored singles for Rouyn-Noranda.
Arnaud Durandeau, Raphael Lavoie and Samuel Asselin replied
with singles for the Mooseheads.
Samuel Harvey turned away 18 shots to pick up the win in
goal for the Huskies, who last won the QMJHL title in 2016. Alexis Gravel
turned away 39 of 43 shots to take the setback in goal for the Mooseheads.
As Halifax is playing host to the Memorial Cup from May 17
to 26, both clubs already have berths locked up in the CHL championship
tournament.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
-------
If you like what you
see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like
this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the
DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for
stopping in.
