Kassian
03-04-2005, 12:45 AM
From: http://www.vancouvergiants.com
The Vancouver Giants took a 1-0 lead into the final minute of the first period in Seattle on Wednesday, but gave up a goal with 51 seconds remaining and saw any momentum they may have built up virtually halted. The Thunderbirds, who beat the Giants all six times the teams met in 2004/05, went on to score three more times and cruised to a 4-1 win.
Mitch Bartley pounced on a loose puck, after Keith Voytechek dug it out of a scrum, recording his 28 th goal of the year at 10:03 of the opening stanza and was the lone Vancouver shooter to beat Seattle goaltender Bryan Bridges. Unbelievably, the G-Men scored just four times on the standout netminder this season, as he turned out 22 of the 23 shots fired his way.
Derek Couture tied the match late in the first for Seattle , before Denis Tolpeko scored the eventual winning goal at 2:26 of the second. Ryan Gibbons beat Giants' goalie Marek Schwarz (36 saves) at 2:06 of the final period and Nate Thompson rounded out the offense with an empty-netter at 18:41. Draft-eligible centre Chris Durand dominated, piling up three assists on the night.
“We made a key mistake in our zone in the last minute (of the first period) and they capitalized,” Assistant Coach Mike Dyck said. “In some ways we're a pretty fragile team right now. We've got the momentum going, we're playing well and then we get a setback and it put us back on our heels. We had some energy coming out for the third period, they score a goal and the same thing happened. That took any momentum we had away from us and we couldn't seem to battle back.”
Despite Schwarz's best efforts while facing 39 shots, defensive zone coverage, particularly in the slot area out front of Vancouver 's net, was soft and cost the club. With eight games remaining in the regular season, Head Coach Don Hay, Dyck and the other Assistant Coach, Craig Bonner, are still in search of that elusive 60-minute, tireless work right from the drop of the first puck effort missing from the Giants' game that will be required to succeed in the playoffs.
“Marek played really well, you certainly can't fault him,” Dyck related. “I don't think it's anything, as far as a coverage situation, that these guys don't understand. Defense isn't about Xs and Os, defense is about hard work and it's about sacrifice. And if you're not prepared to do that for 60 minutes – outwork the guy with the puck along the walls, outwork the guy in front of the net – you're going to lose those battles.”
Hay and company deployed three new line combinations in an attempt to bust out of the scoring funk the G-Men had all year against Seattle . Prominent duos were kept intact, as was a checking line featuring Voytechek between Chad Scharff and Kyle Lamb, but the other units were altered. Adam Courchaine and Triston Grant welcomed rookie Jason Reese to a scoring line, while Cam Cunning joined Gilbert Brule and Tim Kraus. Bartley skated on a line with Ryan Costanzo and J.D. Watt.
Bartley appeared inspired by the deck shuffling, while Watt stood out with two fights against Seattle blueliner Bretton Stamler. The two 1987-born prospects traded punches with about five minutes left in the second period, before Watt got the upper hand in a bout with 1:15 left in the game.
Vancouver has a busy three-game weekend beginning Friday at the Pacific Coliseum against the Portland Winterhawks. Kelowna visits on Saturday and then the Giants head to Kamloops for a Sunday night tilt.
The Vancouver Giants took a 1-0 lead into the final minute of the first period in Seattle on Wednesday, but gave up a goal with 51 seconds remaining and saw any momentum they may have built up virtually halted. The Thunderbirds, who beat the Giants all six times the teams met in 2004/05, went on to score three more times and cruised to a 4-1 win.
Mitch Bartley pounced on a loose puck, after Keith Voytechek dug it out of a scrum, recording his 28 th goal of the year at 10:03 of the opening stanza and was the lone Vancouver shooter to beat Seattle goaltender Bryan Bridges. Unbelievably, the G-Men scored just four times on the standout netminder this season, as he turned out 22 of the 23 shots fired his way.
Derek Couture tied the match late in the first for Seattle , before Denis Tolpeko scored the eventual winning goal at 2:26 of the second. Ryan Gibbons beat Giants' goalie Marek Schwarz (36 saves) at 2:06 of the final period and Nate Thompson rounded out the offense with an empty-netter at 18:41. Draft-eligible centre Chris Durand dominated, piling up three assists on the night.
“We made a key mistake in our zone in the last minute (of the first period) and they capitalized,” Assistant Coach Mike Dyck said. “In some ways we're a pretty fragile team right now. We've got the momentum going, we're playing well and then we get a setback and it put us back on our heels. We had some energy coming out for the third period, they score a goal and the same thing happened. That took any momentum we had away from us and we couldn't seem to battle back.”
Despite Schwarz's best efforts while facing 39 shots, defensive zone coverage, particularly in the slot area out front of Vancouver 's net, was soft and cost the club. With eight games remaining in the regular season, Head Coach Don Hay, Dyck and the other Assistant Coach, Craig Bonner, are still in search of that elusive 60-minute, tireless work right from the drop of the first puck effort missing from the Giants' game that will be required to succeed in the playoffs.
“Marek played really well, you certainly can't fault him,” Dyck related. “I don't think it's anything, as far as a coverage situation, that these guys don't understand. Defense isn't about Xs and Os, defense is about hard work and it's about sacrifice. And if you're not prepared to do that for 60 minutes – outwork the guy with the puck along the walls, outwork the guy in front of the net – you're going to lose those battles.”
Hay and company deployed three new line combinations in an attempt to bust out of the scoring funk the G-Men had all year against Seattle . Prominent duos were kept intact, as was a checking line featuring Voytechek between Chad Scharff and Kyle Lamb, but the other units were altered. Adam Courchaine and Triston Grant welcomed rookie Jason Reese to a scoring line, while Cam Cunning joined Gilbert Brule and Tim Kraus. Bartley skated on a line with Ryan Costanzo and J.D. Watt.
Bartley appeared inspired by the deck shuffling, while Watt stood out with two fights against Seattle blueliner Bretton Stamler. The two 1987-born prospects traded punches with about five minutes left in the second period, before Watt got the upper hand in a bout with 1:15 left in the game.
Vancouver has a busy three-game weekend beginning Friday at the Pacific Coliseum against the Portland Winterhawks. Kelowna visits on Saturday and then the Giants head to Kamloops for a Sunday night tilt.