Nov 4 2007 Giants 3 Bruins 1

[dondo]

Didn't see or hear this one looks like it might have been a decent game. I know there were more than a few Giants fans intending to road-trip there today. Good to see Repik get two goals and to see Mario contributing as well.

Giants Bruise Bruins 3-1 - VGHQ (http://www.vancouvergiantshq.com/November_4_GiantsbkBruisebkBruins_161.html)


Giants Bruise Bruins
Vancouver 3 Chilliwack 1

Don Robinson


The Giants seemed to have turned a bit of a corner and might be on the way to establishing an identity for this years squad. Michal Repik, Jonathon Blum and Mario Bliznak hooked up for a couple of goals with Repik notching both the markers and Blum and Bliznak in on both assists. Lance Bouma scored his second in as many nights off of James Wright who was a healthy scratch versus the Chiefs. Much as they started last night the Giants ended the first period with both teams scoreless. Repik scored just past the mid-way mark in the second on the PP to put the visitors up by one. The Giants were playing their third game in a 3 in 3 road trip grind. The Bruins tied the game up on a PP of their own a bit later in the period as Oscar Moller scored off of Santorelli and Campos. Repik scored his second of the night at 8:50 of the third to give the Giants a lead they would not relinquish. Bouma tallied another goal less than a minute later giving his team an insurance marker. Tyson Sexsmith got the start between the pipes for the G-Men as it seems that Kraymer Barnstable’s short lived confidence from the team was shattered when he allowed 3 on 8 shots in the game versus the Americans.

I am once again writing this recap from the box score so feel free to add some details to flesh out exactly how the game went tonight. It looked to have been a bit of a feisty game with both sides playing a fairly evenly. The Giants out-shot the Bruins 28-20, went 1 for 4 on the PP, while the Bruins went 1 for 5. More than few misconducts were handed out tonight as Hunt, Cloud and McCue all got 10 minute misconducts. Young defenseman Stefan Schneider finally saw his first ice-time in a Giants uni, after impressing in camp and then having to recover from an injury to this point in the season. He was an even tonight with 2 PIMs. I’d be curious to hear how he fared and what the impressions were of his play.

The Giants have a few days off before they take on the Prince George Cougars on Wednesday at the Coliseum. The Giants will be eager to exact some revenge upon the Cougars who blanked the G-Men 3-0 in Prince George. The puck drops at the Coliseum at 7:00pm PST.

Three Stars

1. Michal Repik
2. Jonathon Blum
3. Brandon Campos

[D_J]

From a Bruins fan....

It was a good game with the Giants deserving the win they got. I took some heat from Giants fans on the Bruins section of this site for complaining about the Giants trapping after they trounced the Bruins in the last game but this game was very different.

It was a different Bruins team that the Giants faced yesterday in that I think the B's met the G Men hit for hit and both teams had a solid forecheck. The Bruins played a good game and it could have gone either way. The Bruins were the team who couldn't put the puck in the net wheras the Giants showed championship finish. A solid game from Sexsmith and the Giants did a great job of pressuring in the offensive zone that ended up resulting in the victory. It was entertaining affair regardless of the outcome and both teams forced each other to open up much more than last time...

There was some whining about officiating from Bruins fans but that usually goes both ways and can never be acceptable as an excuse....

As a fan of the losing team I was happy with how the B's played, for a second year team I think they are stepping up well against the local rival. I was impressed with the Giants no. 1 line and despite what happened in Tri Cities I see the Vancouver squad as the benchmark of the BC Division. I think Hay's new top line will have the impact you guys are looking for. But in the future get ready cause we are knockin on the door...

Cheers to this rivalry that is starting to get more even.... The Giants fans in my section were classy and the game was the kind of good tilt that I would much rather see than one sided affairs of last season...

Just an opinion from the other side...

Cheers
(and too bad that Lucic has done so well in Boston... good for us I guess but I can't help but be a fan of this player)

[Swando]

DJ: Thanks for the "unbias" info of the game. It's nice to see the Bruins doing so well in only their 2nd yr. In saying this you probably have a much more talented "top line" than we do and therefore do extremely well on the PP. With all the specialty situations 1 strong line can propel a team high up the standings. Everett did it with PP specialist Mueller and a great defense.
As far as the whining about reffing...this Giants board is bad as any team and maybe worse...especially when a Smith is reffing!!! I have come to think that ref's like to perform in front of big crowds and call more than in smaller rinks...imo. I look at some of the eastern games and 4-6 penalties total is the norm..yet when we have a full barn 8000+ it is a steady trail to the box. Maybe that was the situation in Wack on Sunday?

[Giantsfan]

I think the Giants-Bruins rivalry was a lot more entertaining last season. So far, all the games this season have been really dull, lacking emotion & really lacking physical play. I don't think there's been a single fight in any of the regular season games. I can enjoy a good game without a fight, but some of the games have been real snoozers & in the 4-0 Giants win, where was the emotion from the Bruins? I have been really disappointed & very surprised because the pre season game was extremely rough, & if not for the 1 fight rule there would have been fight after fight. Like I said, a game without a fight is fine, but if the games are dull, a fight can get the crowd & teams more into the game. I also thought that the game in Vancouver, McCue dominated physically, & almost intimidated some of the smaller forwards on the Gmen & he went unchallenged. I'm not sure why Hunt & Bhungal have been so "quiet" out there, but hopefully in the next few meetings the games will be much, much more entertaining than these games. clrkthj

[D_J]

I don't think you'll see a lot of that out of the Bruins this year... they just don't have the toughness...

Bhungal is a middleweight at best and now with the eye injury I don't think you'll see him drop'em much anymore... They have a lot of guys who'll play the body but other than McCue (rarely) no one who is going to be too quick to start scrappin'..

[Giantsfan]

Ya, unfortunately, the Bruins are going in the direction of Everett, not much aggressive play, rarely dropping the mitts & trap like hockey.

[BruinsFan19]

It's funny that you say the Bruins play the trap.

We rarely, if ever, see them do it at home but I have seen them do it once in awhile on the road. Although, I've seen the Giants do it too. I think it's what they refer to as "a good, solid road game" :)

[Swando]

It's funny that you say the Bruins play the trap.

We rarely, if ever, see them do it at home but I have seen them do it once in awhile on the road. Although, I've seen the Giants do it too. I think it's what they refer to as "a good, solid road game" :)

I agree with you ..if anyone traps it's the Giants with their lack of scoring.

[Giantsfan]

Couldn't disagree more. The Giants are a puck pursuit team, dump & chase & almost always out shoot the opponent. Rarely, do they sit back & let the opposition come at them. Yes, the Giants are not a high scoring team, but they score by committee & are not a sit back defensive team like Everett has been for most of their seasons since entering the Dub.

[dondo]

um nope giantsfan they play a defense first system and only send in two or more fore-checkers when they already have possession

so ...yup I hate to say it, but sometimes we set-up in that 1-2-2 formation and clog the neutral zone, not quite a full trap, but designed to limit those breakout passes and counter-attack.

Frankly I think we are the least effective when we only send in one fore-checker -- it makes it easy to clear the zone. Dump the puck behind the net two guys go in the d have nowhere to play it safely.

One fore-checker and the puck is out before any of the guys are in. I also enjoy watching a hard grinding fore-check more. When we are on our game we rule the boards, when we aren't we let the puck out too easily.

Every team plays a trap to some extent these days, the trick is when to tie up the neutral zone and when to send in the horses and go to the net.

[Kassian]

Most teams play the trap, especially once they have the lead in a tight game. While it may not be exciting for the fans, it's very effective if performed properly. That being said I can't blame any team for using it.