Better late than never I suppose for this recap. This was a good game against a very good team. The Giants only made a few big gaffes and paid on almost every one of them. The Winterhawks were big, fast and mobile, but the boys held them respectable. Jared Rathjen allowed a couple he would want back and it was actually Payton Lee who gave the boys the best chance to win. Oddly Rathjen was pulled after the Hawks tied the game 3-3 very early in the second, when he let a puck from a very bad angle beat him over the short side shoulder. Lee was peppered through the second period, but coughed up only one goal against not counting the shootout. The refs were okay for two periods, but frankly lost their minds in the third.
Portland opened the scoring just about 3 minutes in. Dominik Volek responded with a PP marker beating Portland back-up Corbin Boes by going to the net. Brett Kulak and Dalton Thrower had the helpers. Portland responded not long after with a beauty strike from the face-off dot. Thrower tied it up off of Carter Popoff and Alec Baer. Brett Kulak took the Giants first lead off of Joel Hamilton. The Hawks knotted the game at 3s with a cheap goal which chased Rathjen from the net. A bold move by Hay which almost panned out. Lee made some quick stops early in his net tenure to set the tone and the team responded. Dalton Sward scored a sweet short-handed marker late in the period to give the Giants the lead once again. Sward stripped the puck and then cut hard across the crease slipping the puck 5-hole on Boes as he opened himself up. A bad giveaway gave the Winterhawks the tying marker late in the third when they scored a short-handed goal of their own. Lee had just weathered an onslaught, before coughing up the shorty. The game went to a lively OT, before going to the much hated shootout. Well much hated by me as I truly despise watching a team game being decided with a skill competition. The Giants are not really a shootout team and the weapons on the Winterhawks gave them a decided advantage. It only took two shooters from each club to decide this one.
Zebra Cage: Pat Smith and Nick Swaine - the reffing felt balanced for two periods, but then in third they allowed cheapshots behind the play and after the whistle. They called some soft ones, while letting larger ones go by the wayside. Ironically enough after letting so many Portland infractions go by the wayside the tying marker comes on a SH’d goal. Maybe they should have put away the whistles altogether. I find it odd that a game can be called well for two periods and then completely screwed up in the third of a tightly contested game.
The Winterhawks out shot the Giants 36-28. The Birds went 0 for 4 on the PP, allowing a SH’d marker. The G-Men went 1 for 5, but also allowed a SH’d marker. Dalton Sward was excellent at both ends of the ice. And as good as he was I still think he is capable of more and more consistently. Some games he lacks the confidence to go for it in my observation. He plays a mostly smart game, but again I still think he should be a Machacek-like impact player going to the net. He has the potential (and ability) to get many more greasy goals and I am hoping he realizes that soon. I was impressed with our defense for the most part shutting down the high-powered Portland offense and our forwards for bringing that tenacious fore-check. I felt we let off the gas in the second though allowing a push-back and we have Lee to thank for the holding the team in there until they pushed back themselves in the third. Lee turned aside 24 of 25 in regulation and OT. In my estimation the guys were earning penalty calls by keeping their feet moving, but none were coming their way.
Another game where the Giants are showing they can compete against the best squads, something which I would not have even guessed at the start of this season when the team looked like a disorganized mess incapable of completing a pass let alone winning a game. I’m happy we did not have our first game versus the Winterhawks this season until now. The Renfrew boys still have some ways to go, but if they get production from their up and coming young guys and few more critical stops from their goalies they will find themselves on the right side of the scoresheet more often than not and hopefully a spoiler and possible surprise come playoff time.
The Giants start a three game in four nights road trip tonight in Kamloops. Sunday they head down to Kennewick and then Monday in Portland to try to solve the Winterhawks. They should do well in Kamloops, although with a new coach that squad is going to be better motivated to do something special in front of their home-town fans. I am hoping they continue to bring the fore-check and not fall into the trap of sitting back as versus the Hawks and the Americans it’s like signing a blank check for goals against those speedy opportunistic squads. Puck drops tonight in Kamloops at 7pm PST.
Three Stars
1. Dalton Sward
2. Chase De Leo
3. Payton Lee
Dondo’s Doghouse: Jared Rathjen he didn’t really look comfortable in the net on the night, which I suppose is the reason Hayzer pulled him after a tying goal. He allowed 3 of 10 before being pulled. He’ll bounce back, but it was not one of his best games.
Dondo’s Hardhat: goes to – Dalton Sward – he played a complete game tonight and his short-handed marker was indicative of that work. He was a plus player and noticed most every shift. When at the end of the night I was selecting my three stars for the night his name immediately popped into my head.
Giants 4 Winterhawks 5 OT SO - Jan 12th, 2014
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