Malc
11-13-2008, 02:59 PM
By Doyle Potenteau
Tyson Sexsmith couldn‘t believe it. Neither could the Kelowna Rockets.
Despite getting outhit, outshot and outplayed by Kelowna, the visiting Vancouver Giants pulled out a 3-1 victory over the Rockets at Prospera Place. Entering last night‘s game, not many would have given Kelowna much of a chance against the WHL‘s top team, which had suffered just one regulation-time loss this season.
Yet, from the opening whistle to the final buzzer, the Rockets were the better, more physical, team on the night. But while Kelowna was good, Sexsmith was even better. And if it hadn‘t been for the 19-year-old from Priddis, Alta., the Giants would have returned home to Vancouver with two regulation-time defeats.
“Our best player was our goaltender,” said Giants head coach Don Hay, whose squad was outshot 37-24. “He won he game for us with his consistent play.”
“I don‘t think we‘ve ever been outshot like that,” said Sexsmith after making 36 saves, 15 more than his Kelowna counterpart. “It‘s my career first, getting outshot that bad... (getting outshot) it doesn‘t really happen that often. Kelowna came out and played hard.”
You won‘t find the Rockets disagreeing.
“You have to give credit to Sexsmith, because he played great. He stopped a lot of good chances,” said Rockets winger Cody Almond. “We were really good getting into the red zone and getting opportunities, but (Sexsmith) made a lot of good saves.”
“Vancouver‘s a really good team, and when you score on them, they tend to push harder,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “But I thought we did a very good job tonight; we were the hungrier team.
“We put a lot of pucks on net and Sexsmith played very well. He made saves when he had to, and that was the difference in my mind.”
Sexsmith was named the CHL‘s goaltender of the week on Tuesday. Last week, Sexsmith recorded his WHL-record 22nd shutout. Adam Brown made 21 saves for the Rockets, who visit the Giants on Friday night.
Brent Regner, Andrej Kudrna and Brendan Gallagher scored for Vancouver (15-1-0-3), which suffered its first regulation-time loss of the season on Tuesday, 3-2 in Chilliwack to the host Bruins. Mitchell Callahan, with a breakaway goal, replied for Kelowna (12-9-0-0), which gave up two soft goals in the third period, including Gallagher‘s insurance marker at 11:57. Regner‘s game-opening goal late in the first, was also soft, a long snapshot from just inside the blue-line that hit Brown‘s glove and went in.
Kudrna broke a 1-1 tie at 7:03 of the third with a power-play goal, a shot from the goal-line below the right faceoff circle that hit Brown and banked in. The sellout crowd of 6,128 groaned in disbelief at the soft goal, which was then followed by a weirder one when Gallagher iced the contest with a crowd-deflating goal.
The Giants flipped the puck in the air, and Brown, in his crease, went to field it. Which is when Rocket blue-liner Aaron Borejko collided with Brown in a goal-mouth meeting of two rookies. The puck, of course, bounced off Brown and into Kelowna‘s goal, giving the Giants a two-goal lead with eight minutes left and all but assuring Vancouver victory.
That goal also ended Brown‘s perfect streak to the season. The 17-year-old from California had won his past seven starts, but now enters the back-half of this home-and-home series on Friday with a 7-1-0-0 record.
“I went up to catch it, someone ran into me and it ended up in the net,” said Brown. “We played really well tonight. We came out with the energy we needed; we battled, got all the shots... we just came up a little short.
“I expected (the streak) to end sometime, because you can‘t win all the time. But, yeah, it sucks.”
What didn‘t suck was how well both teams blocked shots, especially the Giants when it came to Kelowna‘s power play. In the first, the Rockets were handed a five-on-three power play just six minutes into the first period, yet came up empty, thanks in part to the Giants blocking back-door passes
“As a team, we tried to get off to a good start. (In Chilliwack), we didn‘t get off to a very good start, and we didn‘t get off to a good start here, either,” said Sexsmith, who also won a game-telling battle that period between him and Rocket sniper Jamie Benn. “Of course, facing a five-on-three early on isn‘t the most ideal thing to do.
“But we‘ve always been a physical team, and Kelowna‘s always tried to match us, and they did a very good job of matching us in that aspect and (physically) beating us (Wednesday).”
As for that Benn save, it came during a two-on-two rush that the Giants‘ defence botched. Instead of each Vancouver blue-liner taking a man, both went over to Kelowna‘s other forward at the same time, leaving Benn, who was carrying the puck, a wide shooting lane from the hashmarks. Benn fired, only to have Sexsmith come up with a big glove save.
“Usually you want an easier shot to start the game, but those things happen,” said Sexsmith. “When you get a good player like Jamie Benn in the slot, all alone, it‘s my challenge, and I have to come up with the big save. And I was able to do that.”
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=147218
Tyson Sexsmith couldn‘t believe it. Neither could the Kelowna Rockets.
Despite getting outhit, outshot and outplayed by Kelowna, the visiting Vancouver Giants pulled out a 3-1 victory over the Rockets at Prospera Place. Entering last night‘s game, not many would have given Kelowna much of a chance against the WHL‘s top team, which had suffered just one regulation-time loss this season.
Yet, from the opening whistle to the final buzzer, the Rockets were the better, more physical, team on the night. But while Kelowna was good, Sexsmith was even better. And if it hadn‘t been for the 19-year-old from Priddis, Alta., the Giants would have returned home to Vancouver with two regulation-time defeats.
“Our best player was our goaltender,” said Giants head coach Don Hay, whose squad was outshot 37-24. “He won he game for us with his consistent play.”
“I don‘t think we‘ve ever been outshot like that,” said Sexsmith after making 36 saves, 15 more than his Kelowna counterpart. “It‘s my career first, getting outshot that bad... (getting outshot) it doesn‘t really happen that often. Kelowna came out and played hard.”
You won‘t find the Rockets disagreeing.
“You have to give credit to Sexsmith, because he played great. He stopped a lot of good chances,” said Rockets winger Cody Almond. “We were really good getting into the red zone and getting opportunities, but (Sexsmith) made a lot of good saves.”
“Vancouver‘s a really good team, and when you score on them, they tend to push harder,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. “But I thought we did a very good job tonight; we were the hungrier team.
“We put a lot of pucks on net and Sexsmith played very well. He made saves when he had to, and that was the difference in my mind.”
Sexsmith was named the CHL‘s goaltender of the week on Tuesday. Last week, Sexsmith recorded his WHL-record 22nd shutout. Adam Brown made 21 saves for the Rockets, who visit the Giants on Friday night.
Brent Regner, Andrej Kudrna and Brendan Gallagher scored for Vancouver (15-1-0-3), which suffered its first regulation-time loss of the season on Tuesday, 3-2 in Chilliwack to the host Bruins. Mitchell Callahan, with a breakaway goal, replied for Kelowna (12-9-0-0), which gave up two soft goals in the third period, including Gallagher‘s insurance marker at 11:57. Regner‘s game-opening goal late in the first, was also soft, a long snapshot from just inside the blue-line that hit Brown‘s glove and went in.
Kudrna broke a 1-1 tie at 7:03 of the third with a power-play goal, a shot from the goal-line below the right faceoff circle that hit Brown and banked in. The sellout crowd of 6,128 groaned in disbelief at the soft goal, which was then followed by a weirder one when Gallagher iced the contest with a crowd-deflating goal.
The Giants flipped the puck in the air, and Brown, in his crease, went to field it. Which is when Rocket blue-liner Aaron Borejko collided with Brown in a goal-mouth meeting of two rookies. The puck, of course, bounced off Brown and into Kelowna‘s goal, giving the Giants a two-goal lead with eight minutes left and all but assuring Vancouver victory.
That goal also ended Brown‘s perfect streak to the season. The 17-year-old from California had won his past seven starts, but now enters the back-half of this home-and-home series on Friday with a 7-1-0-0 record.
“I went up to catch it, someone ran into me and it ended up in the net,” said Brown. “We played really well tonight. We came out with the energy we needed; we battled, got all the shots... we just came up a little short.
“I expected (the streak) to end sometime, because you can‘t win all the time. But, yeah, it sucks.”
What didn‘t suck was how well both teams blocked shots, especially the Giants when it came to Kelowna‘s power play. In the first, the Rockets were handed a five-on-three power play just six minutes into the first period, yet came up empty, thanks in part to the Giants blocking back-door passes
“As a team, we tried to get off to a good start. (In Chilliwack), we didn‘t get off to a very good start, and we didn‘t get off to a good start here, either,” said Sexsmith, who also won a game-telling battle that period between him and Rocket sniper Jamie Benn. “Of course, facing a five-on-three early on isn‘t the most ideal thing to do.
“But we‘ve always been a physical team, and Kelowna‘s always tried to match us, and they did a very good job of matching us in that aspect and (physically) beating us (Wednesday).”
As for that Benn save, it came during a two-on-two rush that the Giants‘ defence botched. Instead of each Vancouver blue-liner taking a man, both went over to Kelowna‘s other forward at the same time, leaving Benn, who was carrying the puck, a wide shooting lane from the hashmarks. Benn fired, only to have Sexsmith come up with a big glove save.
“Usually you want an easier shot to start the game, but those things happen,” said Sexsmith. “When you get a good player like Jamie Benn in the slot, all alone, it‘s my challenge, and I have to come up with the big save. And I was able to do that.”
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories_local_sports.php?id=147218