dondo
02-07-2010, 07:15 AM
I'm sure there are going to be those of you who think I am being too harsh on the team, but this kind of game is inexcusable. Losing all four games to TC this season is bad enough, but to have solid leads in three of those games, allow TC to play mostly one period and still lose? Unacceptable. I expect much more from this team and letting these kinds of leads slip are not Giants hockey. The boys need to expect much more out of themselves too and when they have that kind of gap, continue to play the way that got them that lead and not get caught flatfooted and stick-waving. Segal who has been so good the past few games needs to find a more consistent game and eliminate those soft goals, especially in clutch situations. Many players had some nice individual moments tonight, but team breakdowns lost them this one.
Americans Chop Giants
Vancouver 4 Tri-City 5 OT/SO
Don Robinson
For the third time this season the Giants let a lead slip versus the Tri-City Americans. For the second time they watched a 3-1 lead going into the third period vanish and two points fly out the nearest window. You would think that by now they would learn that even if you let the Americans play a good 20 minutes, you can get burned. The Giants did not play a complete game, failed to score on a replacement goalie until it was too late to really make a statement and allowed a solid lead to slip out of their grasp. I am incensed that they would be so dumb as to sit back and try to protect a lead against this team as they have been burned three out of four games this way. The G’s came out to what should have been an insurmountable lead of 3-0 and then let it get whittled away. Allowing a late goal in the first was poor, but not really bringing a big game in the second was pretty much inexcusable and then allowing the Ams to run roughshod over them in the third is not what elite teams do and if the Giants hope to still be considered elite in this league then they all have to suck it up and make sure they win these games. In didn’t help matters that their goalie allowed two soft ones down the stretch, but the boys needed to have that hunger and in the final frame they didn’t. They should be ashamed they only got a point, not happy.
The Giants scored early when some nice pressure around the net had Bouma stuff the puck in the short-side. Tomas Vincour laid a great body check to spring the puck loose, getting the lone assist. Brett Breitkreuz padded that lead going hard to the net and making a nice move to get the puck past Alexander Pechurskiy. Milan Kytnar garnered the only assist. James Wright made it 3-0 going to the net and tipping the puck past Pechurskiy. Once again it was Tomas Vincour with the helper. Drew Owsley was swapped for Pechurskiy after the third goal. The Ams got one back mid-first when Neal Prokop scored a beauty back-hand past Mark Segal who had his moments, but really needed to bear down in the third as he let in two soft goals he absolutely has to stop.
The teams played the second to a draw, with the Giants getting the majority of shots, but were not bearing down to put their chances past Owsley. Owsley played an excellent second holding his team in there and giving them a chance for the come-back. The real Ams showed up in the third and caught the Giants flat-footed out of the gate. Out shooting the Vancouver boys 8-1 at one point, getting an early goal off of a Giants defensive breakdown and then turning a PP opportunity the very next shift into the tying marker; a puck which slipped past Segal. The Ams took their first lead of the game when a puck hit Segal in the chest and trickled under his arm into the net. The Giants tied the game, salvaging a point with the goalie pulled and mere seconds left in the contest. 12 seconds to be exact. Kytnar put it home off of some great work by James Henry and Brendan Gallagher.
The Giants found their legs in OT, but Owsley stood his ground turning away all three shots, two of which were decent scoring chances. The game went to a shootout and it only took one American player to score to get the win as Owsley shut the door, turning away all three of the Giants shooters.
The Giants barely out shot the Ams 39-36. They were 0 for 2 on the PP, while the Ams went 1 for 2. Reffing was not a factor as Sean Raphael and this time Trevor Hansen were virtually invisible calling only what they needed to call. The Giants really needed to bear down and get the win in that one and their failure to do so could have direr ramifications down the road. The Americans beat the Giants in every contest this season, winning all four games. The Giants had good leads in three of those games, but could never find that coffin-nail goal when they needed it most. More than any other Giants team of late this squad seems incapable of holding onto a lead when the going gets tough. They cannot afford to sit back and try to protect those leads. They need to go for the jugular and stay on it for the full sixty. Considering the history of these teams this season taking a loss in tonight’s game is pretty much inexcusable. It has nothing to do with getting a point or making it a close game and everything to do with allowing leads to slip unnecessarily by allowing teams back into games in which they should have no hope.
The Giants have a week to regroup and get their game back on track. They have home at home games versus Chilliwack next weekend and need to win them both to really get back into the groove before embarking on a long ten game road trip that will take them down south before sweeping up through the Eastern Conference. The Giants have a lot of the components to compete at an elite level, but they have to stop letting themselves down. Its time for them to really look at what they want and go for it with no reservations.
Three Stars
1. Patrick Holland
2. Tomas Vincour
3. Justin Feser
Americans Chop Giants
Vancouver 4 Tri-City 5 OT/SO
Don Robinson
For the third time this season the Giants let a lead slip versus the Tri-City Americans. For the second time they watched a 3-1 lead going into the third period vanish and two points fly out the nearest window. You would think that by now they would learn that even if you let the Americans play a good 20 minutes, you can get burned. The Giants did not play a complete game, failed to score on a replacement goalie until it was too late to really make a statement and allowed a solid lead to slip out of their grasp. I am incensed that they would be so dumb as to sit back and try to protect a lead against this team as they have been burned three out of four games this way. The G’s came out to what should have been an insurmountable lead of 3-0 and then let it get whittled away. Allowing a late goal in the first was poor, but not really bringing a big game in the second was pretty much inexcusable and then allowing the Ams to run roughshod over them in the third is not what elite teams do and if the Giants hope to still be considered elite in this league then they all have to suck it up and make sure they win these games. In didn’t help matters that their goalie allowed two soft ones down the stretch, but the boys needed to have that hunger and in the final frame they didn’t. They should be ashamed they only got a point, not happy.
The Giants scored early when some nice pressure around the net had Bouma stuff the puck in the short-side. Tomas Vincour laid a great body check to spring the puck loose, getting the lone assist. Brett Breitkreuz padded that lead going hard to the net and making a nice move to get the puck past Alexander Pechurskiy. Milan Kytnar garnered the only assist. James Wright made it 3-0 going to the net and tipping the puck past Pechurskiy. Once again it was Tomas Vincour with the helper. Drew Owsley was swapped for Pechurskiy after the third goal. The Ams got one back mid-first when Neal Prokop scored a beauty back-hand past Mark Segal who had his moments, but really needed to bear down in the third as he let in two soft goals he absolutely has to stop.
The teams played the second to a draw, with the Giants getting the majority of shots, but were not bearing down to put their chances past Owsley. Owsley played an excellent second holding his team in there and giving them a chance for the come-back. The real Ams showed up in the third and caught the Giants flat-footed out of the gate. Out shooting the Vancouver boys 8-1 at one point, getting an early goal off of a Giants defensive breakdown and then turning a PP opportunity the very next shift into the tying marker; a puck which slipped past Segal. The Ams took their first lead of the game when a puck hit Segal in the chest and trickled under his arm into the net. The Giants tied the game, salvaging a point with the goalie pulled and mere seconds left in the contest. 12 seconds to be exact. Kytnar put it home off of some great work by James Henry and Brendan Gallagher.
The Giants found their legs in OT, but Owsley stood his ground turning away all three shots, two of which were decent scoring chances. The game went to a shootout and it only took one American player to score to get the win as Owsley shut the door, turning away all three of the Giants shooters.
The Giants barely out shot the Ams 39-36. They were 0 for 2 on the PP, while the Ams went 1 for 2. Reffing was not a factor as Sean Raphael and this time Trevor Hansen were virtually invisible calling only what they needed to call. The Giants really needed to bear down and get the win in that one and their failure to do so could have direr ramifications down the road. The Americans beat the Giants in every contest this season, winning all four games. The Giants had good leads in three of those games, but could never find that coffin-nail goal when they needed it most. More than any other Giants team of late this squad seems incapable of holding onto a lead when the going gets tough. They cannot afford to sit back and try to protect those leads. They need to go for the jugular and stay on it for the full sixty. Considering the history of these teams this season taking a loss in tonight’s game is pretty much inexcusable. It has nothing to do with getting a point or making it a close game and everything to do with allowing leads to slip unnecessarily by allowing teams back into games in which they should have no hope.
The Giants have a week to regroup and get their game back on track. They have home at home games versus Chilliwack next weekend and need to win them both to really get back into the groove before embarking on a long ten game road trip that will take them down south before sweeping up through the Eastern Conference. The Giants have a lot of the components to compete at an elite level, but they have to stop letting themselves down. Its time for them to really look at what they want and go for it with no reservations.
Three Stars
1. Patrick Holland
2. Tomas Vincour
3. Justin Feser