Bruins 0 @ Giants 8 March 9th

[Beaner]

A dominating game by the Giants tonight, as they scored 5 goals in the first period and just destroyed the Bruins. A pathetic effort from the Bruins as they looked like they were already beat before they even started the game. Giants scored on 3 of their first 4 shots, icing the game just 10 minutes in.

Very disappointed in the Bruins effort tonight, they were getting spanked but they didn't even try to send a message. I guess the message they sent was we cant beat Vancouver so why bother. Bruins are better then what we have seen at in Vancouver, but wow, that was pathetic.

NOTES
Sexsmith and Archibald got the starts
Cunningham, Toigo and Hunt were the Giants scratches
Glennie left the game after taking the second period face off draw. Looked like a lower body injury, maybe he caught a stick off the draw?
Shots 39-14 Giants
PP's Giants 0/6, Bruins 0/6

GOALS
1. VAN Lucic, (30) (Rabbit, Repik), 0:31 Turnover in the neutral zone, puck goes to Rabbit who dishes to Lucic, and Lucic fires a rocket from just over the blue line, top corner.
1. VAN Blum, (8) (Kraus, Watt), 6:10 Watt in the low slot dishes to the side of the net to Kraus who then feeds Blum who has come in off the point and he deflects it in open side.
1. VAN Watt, (31) (Kraus, Wuchterl), 9:11 Forgot how this went in.
1. VAN Repik, (23) (Rabbit, Mikkelson), 18:39 And same with this one.
1. VAN Watt, (32) (Kraus, Thelen), 19:47 Watt fromt he top of the Circle just tees one up, and scores top shelf.
2. VAN Machacek, (18) (Bliznak), 6:15 (SH) Sloppy play at the blue line, and Bliznak and Machacek are off on the partial 2-1. Bliznak dishes to Machacek who goes right down the middle, makes a couple moves and backhands it up and over top shelf.
3. VAN Czibere, (7) (Blum), 7:48 Blum throws a waist high pass to czibre who manages to somehow bunt it into the open side.
3. VAN Repik, (24) (Thelen, Rabbit), 16:33 Repik deflects the Thelen point shot right in front of Archibald.

FISTICUFFS
None

OFFICIATING
Herman and Weibe tonight, they did fine. Nothing really glaring.

OVERALL

Archibald cant be blamed for this one as the Bruins did not even show up.

Nice to see Bliznak back and playing so well after such a long lay-off.

Congrats to Lucic for potting number 30, a fantastic year for the big guy.

9th Shut-out of the year for Tyson, just 1 behind Irving.

Giants looked very very good tonight, rolling 4 lines, everyone working hard etc etc. We shall have to see what happens when a team that wants to play shows up, but its looking like the Giants are starting to step it up.

And congrats to the entire team on clinching the BC Title again.

3 STARS
1. VAN - 12 Tim Kraus
2. VAN - 11 J.D. Watt
3. VAN - 16 Wacey Rabbit

[GF71]

Where the hell was Chilliwack tonight?? :burningma

VERY upset with their effort. Yes the Giants have waxed them more often than not this season, but from all the games I have seen the Bruins play this year..(10+) They have NEVER looked as pathetic as they did tonight. They are usually a very hard working team. And they are supposed to be fighting for a playoff spot. Did they eat a lot of saltpeter before the game or something? Pop too many ludes?? BRUTAL. I really want to see them make the playoffs but after tonight I am not sure they deserve to be there.

[Swando]

I have only missed 2 Giants games this year and I'll tell you they were flying. Did the Bruins disappear or were the Giants that dominating. The latter could be true. I'm sure with the play-offs on the line the Bruins had a pregame hype and plan of attack. It's hard to regain this plan after a howitzer like Lucic foils your plan to attack only 40 secs into the match. The Giants were relentless and never gave the Brui8ns a chance to regroup. I believe that it wasn't so much the Bruins not showing up but the Giants played such a perfect 1st period that they left Chilliwack no chance to recover...The Bliznk/Machacek/McCardle line was matched up against Santorelli's line and shut them down to nothing. In backing up my feelings, did anyone of you see a cheezy goal tonight??? Those first 5 were all A+ goals as far as I was concerned.
Also I think the Watcherl could have been a star tonight. I hope he keeps up his play like tonight. He drew 3 of the 6 penalties and hussled all night.
Remember tommorrow night's game is on Shaw at 7 pm

[rinkrat]

Where the hell was Chilliwack tonight?? :burningma
Pop too many ludes?? BRUTAL.

LOL too funny GF71 pbj

You been watching Cheech and Chong reruns?

[dondo]

wow -- Bruins showed up for a bit in the second but they left Archie high and dry for most of the time tonight. Archibald wasn't that bad, but his team-mates didn't do him any favours tonight. Frankly considering the Bruins are fighting for the last playoff spot I expected a lot more -- at least some emotion -- they took hits without complaint and gave not too many back. every single Bruin player was a minus tonight ranging from -1 to -5 for hapless LW'er Kulhanek.

my take on the game --


Giants Break Bruins
Vancouver 8 Chilliwack 0

The Giants clinched the BC Division tonight with a little help from the Prince George Cougars. Eight goals was the order of the day as the Cougars scored 8 unanswered goals to beat the Kamloops Blazers 8-1, and the Giants blanked the Bruins 8-0. The Giants needed either two wins or a win and a Kamloops loss to clinch the title and they did their part in convincing fashion. The home squad came out hard and fast off the drop of the puck and took their game right down the Bruins gullet. Milan Lucic picked the top corner 31 seconds into the game and the Giants would get three goals on 4 shots and by the end of the first they had 5 goals on 12 shots. Bruins netminder Alex Archibald was not awful, but his defense was. Archibald surprisingly started the second period and with his team playing a bit better in front of him gave up only one goal in the second while weathering 17 more shots. The goal was shorthanded with Spencer Machacek tallying his 18th of the season. The Giants finished off the scoring in the third getting two more behind Archibald. Despite all the goals the game itself lacked the passion and fight of a really good hockey game.

Wacey Rabbit and Michal Repik combined to set-up Milan Lucic coming down the slot. Lucic pounded home a beauty top shelf rocket, just 31 seconds into the game. The Giants second goal came off some nice work by JD Watt and Tim Kraus. Watt drifted the puck to Kraus who fed Jonathon Blum cutting down the right wing with a sweet pass. Blum snapped the puck in stride and beat Archibald high stick-side (remembering that Archibald is a righty and has his stick in his left-hand). Kraus and Wuchterl combined for Watt’s first goal. Then Michal Repik scored a nice one going to the net with helpers from Rabbit and Brendan Mikkelson. Watt rounded out the scoring with 13 seconds left in the first, Kraus and AJ Thelen get the assists.

Archibald started the second period and proved to be up to the task as his team-mates played a bit harder in front of him as well. Other than a whole bunch of soft penalties being called and some even weaker equalisation penalties the second was uneventful. On one of the Bruins PP chances the Giants countered with a short-handed goal. Mario Bliznak tipped a nice pass to Machacek who cut hard to the net deked and roofed the puck over Archibald. It was the only goal of the second, but it got the crowd their appetiser bonus earlier in a game than any other game this season.

The Giants opened the third period much the same way as they ended the second sleepwalking through their PP. The Bruins did not really press and over the course of the period lost their steam. Mitch Czibere got a hard won goal right in front of the net deflecting a Blum shot past the Bruins ‘tender. Michal Repik finished off the scoring for the night in grand style picking a high pass out of the air at the top of the crease and tipping it past Archibald. Tyson Sexsmith earned his 9th shutout of the season and his second in two straight games. He was good early on when the Bruins were given multiple PP chances in the first when the game was still close. The Giants were picture perfect closing the gaps and clearing pucks from the front of the net.

The Bruins PP looked good as they moved the puck around, but they were unable to get quality shots through, as the Giants defensive core were more than willing to lay down to block the shots. Other than the SH tally, all of the Giants goals were scored at even-strength. This bodes well for the playoffs, which does not have four-on-four OTs or shootouts to confuse the purity of the real game, which at its best is hard fought five-on-five. Both squads went 0 for 6 on the PP and the Giants out-shot the Bruins 39-14. After the first it was a rather boring game which lacked emotion and other than some brilliant passing and scoring the game passed without a lot of fanfare.

The Giants head to the Okanagan for a game tomorrow night in Kelowna. The Seattle Thunderbirds did the Bruins a favour though as they trimmed up the home town Kelowna Rockets 4-1 tonight. The Giants have the opportunity to also do the Bruins a favour by doing the same thing to Rockets at Prospera Place. The Rockets will be pretty hungry to get the win though and the Giants might have a battle in store Saturday night in the OK. The puck drops at 7pm.

Three Stars*
1 – Tim Kraus
2 – JD Watt
3 – Michal Repik

*the official site has Wacey Rabbit instead of Michal Repik in the third star position but it was announced as Michal Repik at the game. Repik was force all night and deserved the first star for his four point night with two goals and two assists. Kraus did not get a goal and Watt got only 3pts .. odd arrangement of stars imo – Kraus made some gorgeous passes though.

Beaner you bastid -- we forgot the same goals .. haha

[GF71]

LOL too funny GF71 pbj

You been watching Cheech and Chong reruns?


I guess I just dated myself eh? lol

[Kassian]

I can't believe the Bruins didn't try and play extra rough after the 1st period. You'd think they would want something to take from this game. They made it an easy night for the Giants. Pretty weak effort on their part...

[Jimmy]

Left after the first.

[Knuckles Muldoon]

Left after the first.
Jimmy, I'll go you one period better.
Expecting a very one-sided game, I decided to stay home and am glad I did. I'm tired of Portland and Chilliwack games. They don't prove anything and are just practices for the Giants. I went to the 5-1 game in Chilliwack last Friday and the game was a white-wash. No way was I going to waste time and attend last night's game. For whatever reason, the Bruins just don't compete against the Giants. They've beaten Medicine Hat, Kootenay and Everett. What is it about the Giants that neuters them to such a degree? I agree with the poster who said he wondered if the Bruins deserve to make the playoffs. Their playoff chance is on the line and they don't even compete? What's up with that? At least Kelowna, for the most part, still work hard, even if they lack in some vital areas. I was interested in seeing the Bruins grab the last spot, just to be able to go to games 3 and/or 4, but at this rate, I'm not sure I'll even bother. It's just a waste of time; the Bruins are too overwhelmed playing the G-men.
On a good note, it sure seems that the Giants game is rounding into playoff form now. Not allowing many shots on goal, forechecking is up, Sexy looking good, team is healthy, all lines playing well. Things look quite good with a week left.

[N.W. Bruin]

Esposito is the main guy. And he will surely start against the Hawks and likely the Birds today and tomorrow respectively. Whether they decided to not put out a effort to save energy for the two other games this weekend I am not sure. But it better not come down to the last game of the regular season against the Giants to tie Kelowna and force the tie-breaker or to avoid the tie-breaker.

Giants outclass the Bruins at this point the same way Kelowna outclassed the Giants in the Giants' second season and they made the playoffs. Who can remember that 10 - 0 first ever playoff game by the Giants? And the other blowout. The two other playoff games were relatively close.

[Jimmy]

Jimmy, I'll go you one period better.
Expecting a very one-sided game, I decided to stay home and am glad I did. I'm tired of Portland and Chilliwack games. They don't prove anything and are just practices for the Giants. I went to the 5-1 game in Chilliwack last Friday and the game was a white-wash. No way was I going to waste time and attend last night's game. For whatever reason, the Bruins just don't compete against the Giants. They've beaten Medicine Hat, Kootenay and Everett. What is it about the Giants that neuters them to such a degree? I agree with the poster who said he wondered if the Bruins deserve to make the playoffs. Their playoff chance is on the line and they don't even compete? What's up with that? At least Kelowna, for the most part, still work hard, even if they lack in some vital areas. I was interested in seeing the Bruins grab the last spot, just to be able to go to games 3 and/or 4, but at this rate, I'm not sure I'll even bother. It's just a waste of time; the Bruins are too overwhelmed playing the G-men.

yeah, I feel the same way. I cannot sit and watch a blowout no matter which side is winning. It isn't the kind of hockey I enjoy.

Playoffs are playoffs, but I had better things to do than watch the Giants run up the score last night.