dondo
02-02-2011, 12:11 AM
Giants Tag Tigers
Vancouver 3 Medicine Hat 2
The Giants team we had in the fall would have lost this game, folded up their tents after being down by two goals and lacked the confidence to battle through the adversity, of which there was much. Since the passing of the New Year though the new look Giants have gained some confidence and are more likely to win these games than lose them. This one was won with a mere 1 second left and took the video replay judge and the refs well over five minutes to figure out that fact. A last ditch wraparound attempt got the Giants the regulation W and Spencer Bennett his second goal of the game. Darren Bestland was rocking the body all over the ice. Dalton Sward and Matt Bellerive played well as the two 16 year olds are finding their game. Brendan Gallagher earned his chances, but was unable to finish them off. Mark Segal was very solid between the pipes, earning a third star nod with good fundamental goaltending.
The Tigers opened the scoring early in the first. Kale Kessy put one past Segal just over two minutes in. Emerson Etem scored an unassisted SH tally late in the opening frame, picking the puck at the blue-line and taking it down the ice and burying it behind Segal. The Giants clawed back in the second when Dalton Sward scored a nice goal off of a Jordan Martinook feed. The Giants killed off a penalty late in the second ended up 4 on 4 to close the period and started the third on a short PP. The time was enough for Spencer Bennett to score his first of the game on that PP, assisted by Brendan Rowinski and Neil Manning. The Giants carried the momentum throughout the period and despite giving up more shots against, looked to be the more dangerous team. They rattled more than a couple off of the red iron and were unlucky not get one to go earlier than they did. With the game tied and the time ticking down, really ticking down, Bennett took the puck hard around the net and slipped one past Tyler Bunz. The buzzer sounding the end of the game was virtually simultaneous with the puck crossing the goal line, but not quite. The Giants thought it was in and it took a long time for the refs and video replay judge to come up with the same conclusion. With the Medicine Hat crowd getting restless and beginning to boo the ref put down the phone and pointed to centre ice, giving the Giants the win. The goal was officially called at 19:59, but was probably even closer.
Rookie Watch: Sward had a nice goal and played a very solid game, with multiple chances. He was a +1. Hart was also a +1 and pretty solid on the back-end. Matt Bellerive was even, but not invisible and played a hard-nosed game. Martinook had an assist. Hodder is still out with a wicked flu.
Fight Night: Scott Ramsay and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen dropped the mitts mid-first.
Zebra Cage: Some will say that the refs let them play, which to a certain extent was true, but there were a few they should have called as some muggings occurred with no whistle. The refs and linesmen had a hard time staying out of the way in this one too. Frequently interfering with passes and players, causing unexpected turnovers. For the most part though the zebras were consistent and allowed the players to lay the body well.
The Tigers out shot the Giants 33-23. The Giants went 1 for 4 on the PP, allowing a SH goal against, while holding the Tigers to 0 for 4. The Tigers, incidentally, lead the league with 14 SH markers this season. The Giants Bennett and Gallagher are no strangers to short-handed markers themselves though. It was a good hard checking game, with both teams working pretty tenaciously to maintain puck possession and were back-checking well. Segal might well have been the difference in this one as he put together a solid fundamental game and his players didn’t leave him high and dry as they did in Kelowna.
The Giants head back to Lethbridge, where they have set-up base camp for their Alberta road swing. They take on the ‘canes tomorrow night in Lethbridge for the second of four games in five nights. They need to maintain their hold on the BC Division and winning a good number of these next games will put them in good stead for that. I would say that Brendan Jensen will get a start in here, but Hay has been playing the hot hand of Segal almost exclusively lately and I would not be surprised to see him get the nod for all of the games. Not the best idea in my mind as it will fatigue Segal greatly, but it still wouldn’t surprise me either. The puck drops in Lethbridge 7pm local time (6pm PST).
Three Stars
1. Spencer Bennett
2. Emerson Etem
3. Mark Segal
Dondo’s Doghouse: It’s a small thing, but I would like to see Andrej Stastny bring the level of his game up a bit as he did a few weeks back. He’s very skilled and was pretty good on the back-check tonight, but he has the potential to be so much more of an impact player. He’s not in the doghouse yet, just looking in. The PP not being sloppy with the puck would be nice though too.
Vancouver 3 Medicine Hat 2
The Giants team we had in the fall would have lost this game, folded up their tents after being down by two goals and lacked the confidence to battle through the adversity, of which there was much. Since the passing of the New Year though the new look Giants have gained some confidence and are more likely to win these games than lose them. This one was won with a mere 1 second left and took the video replay judge and the refs well over five minutes to figure out that fact. A last ditch wraparound attempt got the Giants the regulation W and Spencer Bennett his second goal of the game. Darren Bestland was rocking the body all over the ice. Dalton Sward and Matt Bellerive played well as the two 16 year olds are finding their game. Brendan Gallagher earned his chances, but was unable to finish them off. Mark Segal was very solid between the pipes, earning a third star nod with good fundamental goaltending.
The Tigers opened the scoring early in the first. Kale Kessy put one past Segal just over two minutes in. Emerson Etem scored an unassisted SH tally late in the opening frame, picking the puck at the blue-line and taking it down the ice and burying it behind Segal. The Giants clawed back in the second when Dalton Sward scored a nice goal off of a Jordan Martinook feed. The Giants killed off a penalty late in the second ended up 4 on 4 to close the period and started the third on a short PP. The time was enough for Spencer Bennett to score his first of the game on that PP, assisted by Brendan Rowinski and Neil Manning. The Giants carried the momentum throughout the period and despite giving up more shots against, looked to be the more dangerous team. They rattled more than a couple off of the red iron and were unlucky not get one to go earlier than they did. With the game tied and the time ticking down, really ticking down, Bennett took the puck hard around the net and slipped one past Tyler Bunz. The buzzer sounding the end of the game was virtually simultaneous with the puck crossing the goal line, but not quite. The Giants thought it was in and it took a long time for the refs and video replay judge to come up with the same conclusion. With the Medicine Hat crowd getting restless and beginning to boo the ref put down the phone and pointed to centre ice, giving the Giants the win. The goal was officially called at 19:59, but was probably even closer.
Rookie Watch: Sward had a nice goal and played a very solid game, with multiple chances. He was a +1. Hart was also a +1 and pretty solid on the back-end. Matt Bellerive was even, but not invisible and played a hard-nosed game. Martinook had an assist. Hodder is still out with a wicked flu.
Fight Night: Scott Ramsay and Wes Vannieuwenhuizen dropped the mitts mid-first.
Zebra Cage: Some will say that the refs let them play, which to a certain extent was true, but there were a few they should have called as some muggings occurred with no whistle. The refs and linesmen had a hard time staying out of the way in this one too. Frequently interfering with passes and players, causing unexpected turnovers. For the most part though the zebras were consistent and allowed the players to lay the body well.
The Tigers out shot the Giants 33-23. The Giants went 1 for 4 on the PP, allowing a SH goal against, while holding the Tigers to 0 for 4. The Tigers, incidentally, lead the league with 14 SH markers this season. The Giants Bennett and Gallagher are no strangers to short-handed markers themselves though. It was a good hard checking game, with both teams working pretty tenaciously to maintain puck possession and were back-checking well. Segal might well have been the difference in this one as he put together a solid fundamental game and his players didn’t leave him high and dry as they did in Kelowna.
The Giants head back to Lethbridge, where they have set-up base camp for their Alberta road swing. They take on the ‘canes tomorrow night in Lethbridge for the second of four games in five nights. They need to maintain their hold on the BC Division and winning a good number of these next games will put them in good stead for that. I would say that Brendan Jensen will get a start in here, but Hay has been playing the hot hand of Segal almost exclusively lately and I would not be surprised to see him get the nod for all of the games. Not the best idea in my mind as it will fatigue Segal greatly, but it still wouldn’t surprise me either. The puck drops in Lethbridge 7pm local time (6pm PST).
Three Stars
1. Spencer Bennett
2. Emerson Etem
3. Mark Segal
Dondo’s Doghouse: It’s a small thing, but I would like to see Andrej Stastny bring the level of his game up a bit as he did a few weeks back. He’s very skilled and was pretty good on the back-check tonight, but he has the potential to be so much more of an impact player. He’s not in the doghouse yet, just looking in. The PP not being sloppy with the puck would be nice though too.