Giants 0 @ T-Birds 4 Dec. 2

[rinkrat]

The webcast was a piece of garbage again.Hard to comment.I did see Sexsmith let in a terrible goal which was banked off the back of his leg and in.He looked shakey from what I could see.Also a ton of penalties were called by Kirk against the Giants.I couldn't tell if they were all legitimate.Giants couldn't get any momentum going due to being on the PK alot.
Also Neufeld left the game injured after a T bird ran into the crease and knocked Mikkelson onto him.No reaction to stand up for Neufeld which was very very dissappointing.
Only one game but I have to wonder about the goaltending future for this team,especially if Sexy slumps and Neufeld is out for any length of time.

[Beaner]

Well, no recap from me, because of work again.

Here is the recap from, www.vancouvergiants.com

Thanks Joey K.



T-BIRDS SHUT OUT GIANTS SATURDAY NIGHT
Giants held scoreless in 4-0 loss at Seattle's Key Arena


by Joey Kenward (Voice of the Giants)

For the second straight time on the road, the Vancouver Giants failed to capitalize as Saturday night they were shut-out 4-0 by the Seattle Thunderbirds at the Key Arena. After a solid start to the night, the Giants found themselves in penalty trouble down the stretch and failed to gain any momentum in the Emerald City.

Both teams were scoreless through the opening period as the Giants played a strong physical period, applying plenty of body checks against the T-Birds defence. However netminder Derek Yeomans was able to keep his team in the game by stopping all eight shots Vancouver put his way in the period.

After a solid start in the first frame, starting netminder Blaine Neufeld, who was making his Giants debut in goal, was on the receiving end of a collision into his net. Neufeld would have to leave the game with a leg injury and be replaced by Tyson Sexsmith.

Seattle captain Aaron Gagnon opened the scoring just past the midway point of the second period just as the Giants had killed off a penalty. Sena Acolatse was able to get the puck behind the Giants net for Gagnon, who eventually made his way out into the slot and snapped in his 13th of the year. The eventual game-winning goal came at 10:04.

Early in the third period, Gagnon put the T-Birds up by a pair. After finding the puck behind the net, Gagnon was able to bank it in off the pads of Sexsmith and inside the post. Jan Eberle gets the lone helper on Gagnon’s second of the game at 3:13.

With Vancouver on a power play just before the midway stages of the third period, the T-Birds scored short-handed. Greg Scott was able to break free out of his own zone and raced up ice on a breakaway. He beat Sexsmith through the pads for his 6th of the campaign. The unassisted goal was just the fourth short-handed goal given up by the Giants this year and it came at 9:22.

Before the period was over, the T-Birds capitalized on the man advantage. At a bad angle beside the net, Bud Holloway was able to snap a shot high to the short-side of the netminder. Gagnon and Eberle help Holloway net his 5th of the season at 16:05.

Final shots-on-goal totals for the night favoured the Giants 31-29. Vancouver wound up going 0-for-3 on the power play while the Thunderbirds went 1-for-9.

Despite the loss, the Giants remain in top spot in the B.C. Division and Western Conference. Now with a record of 22-3-2-2, the Giants prepare to wrap up a 3-in-3 weekend with a meeting against the Kamloops Blazers. Game time at the Interior Savings Centre is 7:00pm PST.

[dondo]

ooo -- ugly -- didn't even hear a bit of this game -- and Neufeld going down like that is not good.

So many minuses for players -- sounds like our coverage completely broke down, and penalties were 9 to 3? That sounds like some suspect officiating but w/e. For those who saw it was it a matter of Yeomans standing on his head or more a matter of the team not being motivated enough to play a hard shift?

poor stats all around I'm sure Hay will be ripping a strip of of those guys and they damn well better be motivated in Kamloops.

[Kassian]

Also Neufeld left the game injured after a T bird ran into the crease and knocked Mikkelson onto him.No reaction to stand up for Neufeld which was very very dissappointing.

That bothered me the most (other than the fact we lost obviously). Ian McKenzie cross checks Mikkelson into Neufeld, Neufeld has to leave the game with an injury and not one Giants player did a damn thing about it. Nobody even got in McKenzie's face. Even Sexsmith got bumped and ran into during the Prince George game on Friday and once again nobody did anything about it. The Prince George incident I can understand to a degree because the Giants were going to get a PP out of it. But last night there was no excuse, IMO.

The Seattle feed usually isn't good unfortunately. I don't have a problem with most other teams (at least video wise) but the Seattle feed is really bad. If you have the season pass it's fine because you can watch the game after it is archived and it plays just fine. But watching it live for whatever reason it almost a lost cause.

[dondo]

so if McKenzie cross-checked Mikkelson into his own goalie where was the call? Sounds to me like the refs were playing homer last night.

and I too am very unimpressed that the team didn't swamp McKenzie ... that's not the kind of team which wins big games the ones who stand up for one another are the ones who win the big games.

Not too impressed with the minuses for McArdle or Watt either (or Cody but slightly more understandable), sounds like poor two-way play to me.

[Kassian]

so if McKenzie cross-checked Mikkelson into his own goalie where was the call? Sounds to me like the refs were playing homer last night.


Good question. Either way penalty or no penalty McKenzie should've had to answer the bell at some point during the game.