By Doyle Potenteau

Jamie Benn and the Kelowna Rockets got physical on Thursday night. Far too physical for the Vancouver Giants.

The Rockets scored twice in the second period, then rode a wave of emotion, speed and checking to an eye-opening 3-0 victory over the Vancouver Giants in WHL playoff action on Thursday night. With the win, a contest which saw Kelowna outshoot Vancouver 34-14, the Rockets levelled the Western Conference championship series at 2-2.

The Rockets also limited the Giants to just six shots over the last two periods.

"It’s a really strong effort by us. We played for a full 60 and got the big win," Benn said after Game 4. "Being down 2-1, you have to be hungry – it’s either going to be 3-1 or 2-2. It’s our choice, and we wanted 2-2."

“We deserved what we got,” said Giants head coach Don Hay. “We didn‘t play a very good game. I thought Kelowna was better than us in all areas on the ice. They really competed hard and we didn‘t compete at the level we needed to compete at. It really disappoints me that we weren‘t better than we were tonight."

Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said his team received a big effort from Benn plus linemates Colin Long and Lucas Bloodoff.

"Jamie Benn, tonight for us, set the tempo," said Huska. "He was physical early on, and that allowed our team to get itself going."

For Kelowna, the win might be a watershed moment. In the first three games against Vancouver, the Rockets played well but weren’t physical like they were against the Tri-City Americans in their second-round victory. In Game 4, Kelowna set the tone with a hard-hitting first period, including Benn laying two good hits on Giants captain and top defenceman Jon Blum.

"That’s just desperate hockey," said Benn. "You don’t want to lose; you gotta do what you gotta do to win. And that was part of the game... It was a lot more physical tonight and we had a lot more energy. We were pretty hungry out there, and, like I said, we didn’t want to lose and go down 3-1."

Ian Duval, with his ninth goal of the post-season, and Bloodoff, with his fourth, also scored for Kelowna. Benn’s goal was his 10th. The Giants, who lost the opening game of this series but bounced back to win the next two, suffered their second shutout loss of this post-season. The first was a 1-0 defeat at Spokane on April 8.

Tyson Sexsmith made 32 saves for the Giants, who were soundly outplayed, especially in the hit department, while Mark Guggenberger had a much easier night between the pipes with just 14 saves. The shutout was his first of the playoffs.

The best-of-seven affair resumes Saturday in Vancouver with Game 5, with Game 6 set for Monday at Prospera Place in Kelowna. Game 7, if needed, is set for Vancouver on Tuesday.

Asked to describe Kelowna’s victory, Huska said an important key was "not turning pucks over. We didn’t allow Vancouver to get going on their transition game. And we worked smarter than we’ve worked in the series so far. Having said that, it’s going to be a much more difficult challenge going into Vancouver for Game 5 to try and play the same way."

The Rockets also did a good job of boxing out the Giants from Kelowna’s crease. In the first three games, Vancouver’s forwards could often be seen crowding Guggenberger. But not Thursday night.

"I thought they did a very good job defensively," said Sexsmith, who was, for a second game in a row, Vancouver’s top player. "That was one of their keys. We’re usually a team that gets 40 shots on goal, and we were limited to 14. Anytime you do that, you don’t give yourself a chance to win."

"Our defence did a really good job of that," said Benn. "We tried to let Mark see the shots so he could make the saves."
"It’s important: Vancouver is the best team at going to the net hard," added Huska. "Our defenceman have found a way to get better at boxing them out and keep second opportunities to a minimum. And on the flip side of things, we want our forwards doing a better job of getting inside (Vancouver’s goal), and I think they did that.

"There was a little more traffic in front of Sexsmith tonight, and we had second opportunities."

After a scoreless first period, Duval opened the scoring at 7:15 of the second by converting a bad backpass by Vancouver into a breakaway goal. After cycling around Kelowna’s net, Giants forward Craig Cunningham, from the left cornerboards, threw a chest-high pass back to defenceman Craig Schira at the blue-line. The puck skipped by him, and Duval, with speed, skated past the defenceman for a breakaway and an eventual five-hole goal.

"We had a good first period, and the start of our second was good," said Sexsmith. "Then that pass... it’s a real momentum changer, especially when you have all that pressure on and pushing them back on their heels, then they’re able to turn around and push you back on your heels."

One minute later, Bloodoff made it 2-0 after taking a Benn feed from the left faceoff circle and snapping home a low shot.

In the third, Benn then put Kelowna up 3-0 at 9:25 following a good individual effort. In the left corner, Colin Long centered the puck to Benn in the slot. From there, the 6-foot-2 winger muscled his way to Vancouver’s crease, where he slipped a low, glove-side backhander past Sexsmith. Benn almost had another goal in the third with a breakaway, but Sexsmith came up with a solid stop after Benn tried shovelling home his second of the night.

It appeared the two had words afterwards, but Benn said "we were keeping our mouths shut and staring each other down."

ICE CHIPS: Kelowna’s scratches were RW Spencer Main, RW Shane McColgan and D Kyle Verdino. Vancouver’s scratches were D Neil Manning, C Adam Basford, LW J.T. Barnett, C Todd Kennedy and D Bronson Maschmeyer... Kelowna was 0-for-4 on the power play; Vancouver was 0-for-3... The three stars were all Rockets: Benn, Tyler Myers and Guggenberger.

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