GAME 1: 4-3 Hawks
The Giants had a real chance for a win in Game 1 of this series in Portland, but could not hold onto their lead. Jackson Houck opened the scoring, the Hawks replied with two and Thomas Foster tied it up by the end of the first. It was 3-3 going down to the final five minutes of the third, when Portland got another one to take the lead. Payton Lee was excellent between the pipes, turning aside 41 shots in the loss.
GAME 2: 3-0 Hawks
The Giants were shut-out playing listless hockey and allowing the Winterhawks to use book ended PP markers to go game set match. Lee was once again stellar as he made 40 saves in the loss. The Giants did not bring pressure and were not as good killing penalties as they were the night before.
GAME 3: subtitled (Raphael’s Ego)
Tonight’s tilt was uneven. Lee was just okay and the Giants only really brought effort to score in the third. Sadly the zebras mitts were all over this one, calling early extremely soft stuff and then ignoring the same later in the game. The Hawks got two early PP markers in the first off of two soft and questionable calls. A smallish crowd for a playoff game (5680) and a fair amount of clueless people in the stands screaming without purpose or understanding. Must be Canucks “fans”. There were some positives, but it was mostly a very skilled team running roughshod over a team not really willing to commit themselves to playoff level hockey.
The Winterhawks opened the scoring on the PP. Their record for games in which they score first is truly frightening. They added a second PP marker later in the game. The Giants coughed up the puck early in the second, sending a Portland sniper in a on an uncontested breakaway. 3-0. The Hawks made it 4-0 about 5 minutes later, when the Giants coverage in their own end broke down. The Gs chased the whole period and their lone bright spot was a breakaway for Alec Baer making it 4-1 at 15:29 of the second. The assists went to Jackson Houck and Brett Kulak. At the very least this got the crowd into the game. I hesitate to say back into the game as they really weren’t into the game until that point. In the third the Winterhawks were allowed to do whatever the hell they wanted with no whistles being blown. They made it 5-1 almost 9 minutes into the final frame. The Giants responded with a shorthanded marker less than a minute later. Travis McEvoy was patient with the puck on a 2 on 1 waiting for the defender to commit before sweeping the puck across to a streaking Joel Hamilton barreling down the slot. Hamilton found the back of the net, chipping it past Brendan Burke. Some good hard forechecking a few minutes later made the score 5-3. Trent Lofthouse pounded home a nice pass out from Dalton Sward working behind the net. Arvin Atwal got the other helper. The Winterhawks who had set their game to cruise control by that point gunned the accelerator and began to press back harder. The Giants got caught out of position along the boards in their own end and the Hawks pounced burying a goal from the doorstep, restoring their 3 goal bulge. Lee was solid, but not great. He should be happy that the red iron gods were at least on his side as the game could have gotten way out of hand earlier. I counted three posts and crossbar ringing in this one.
Team Notes: Dalton Thrower was signing autographs in the concourse. The Giants really have been missing his leadership and indomitable spirit. Future potential phenom Tyler Benson is also out for the rest of the season. Ronning had some good early shifts, but all of the boys with the possible exception of Baer fell asleep in the middle frame. The Giants did not win one game versus the Winterhawks this season and are on the cusp of losing this series four straight.
Rookie Watch: 15 yr old Matt Barberis, wearing number 13 in your Giants program, looked okay out there. No dumb plays and kept it clean and safe, waiting for puck support. Another 15 yr old rookie D-man Ryley McKinstry has also been called up by the Giants for the post season. I suspect he might see some ice tomorrow night.
Fight Night: This one could really have used a fight or at the very least some emotion, but the refs were too precious at the start. They gutted the game out any passion early and ruinedg the potential for any real playoff emotion. No fisticuffs.
Zebra Cage: Sean Raphael and Ryan Benbow. Oh where to start… This game was all about referee egos and nothing else. They decided they would “manage” the game early calling soft crap which should barely be on anybody’s radar. A tap is “roughing” someone dropping a stick is “slashing”, a push is “crosschecking”. I watched replay after replay and could not discern one real penalty in any of it. Even the check on the Giants by two Portland Winterhawks was called checking from behind, but the call was marginal at best. Then the two fell into the trap, into which bad referees fall. They started not calling the game in front of them, but the game in their heads – they constantly gave the benefit of the doubt to the more skilled team, despite that team tripping and running obstruction plays with great regularity down the stretch. In the third they mostly put the whistles away, except for a tap along the boards which was called “crosschecking”. It really was truly embarrassing how badly they screwed this game up from the drop of the puck. They were inconsistent, reactive, arrogant and remarkably dense and I hope to hell they are not the same refs for tomorrow’s game. The linesmen were not much better, so we can change them up too.
Hey orange stripes! Thanks for crushing what should have been a lively physical tilt. Cutting its balls off early by being whiny petulant zebras more concerned about your own egos than calling the real game in front of you. You both should be ashamed for the travesty you put out there. Complete and utter failure to do what your job description says you do. I wonder if you actually know what that is. Maybe you should refresh yourself with the manual before donning the stripes again.
The Giants had a few great efforts from a few players, but they were few and far between and rarely focused enough. Showing up for 10 minutes in the third period is not good enough and playing trying not to lose hockey throughout the first didn’t help them get any momentum. As said above Ty Ronning had some early jump, but I saw less of him as the game went on it seems. Other players like Dominik Volek just didn’t show up at all, coasted back into his zone and played perimeter hockey all night. Trent Lofthouse was very good and very dangerous for spurts. Cain Franson and Jackson Houck had their moments, but both are capable of a better and more complete game. Arvin Atwal and Brett Kulak were both solid on the back-end with rare plusses, but were on the ice for PP goals against so they still have another level of game to give. I get a bit frustrated with Dalton Sward, who looks like a dominant power forward one minute and a bumbling comedic foil the next. I really like the kid and have always had high hopes for him, but he is capable of bringing that hard game for more than a half a dozen shifts. He was great on the goal and worthy of the “C”, but we need that effort more consistently. Travis McEvoy had a few decent shifts. The Geertsen family isn’t going to like me for this, but Mason really has not been good at all this whole playoff series. He was –3 tonight and soft in his own end and that is not the Mason Geertsen I love to watch. There is a lot of upside to this kid and I am hoping to see him step up a level or three next season. Tomorrow night would a nice time to reassert his edge and get a little mean.
The Winterhawks out shot the Giants 34-28. The visitors were 2 for 5 on the PP, coughing up a shorthanded marker to the Giants. The Gs went 0 for 2 on their chances. They also took (or were given) penalties on each of their man advantages – wiping out any real full PP opportunities. If the Giants hope to have a chance tomorrow, they will need the effort they brought in the third period for the full 60+. Lee will need to be as good as he was in Portland and there can be no passengers. They will also need two refs who are capable of calling a playoff game and understand what that means.
The Giants have a chance to not be swept tomorrow night when they take on the Winterhawks in Game 4, but only if they really play playoff hockey. That means bringing a physical game to the fore and stop the silly scrum stuff. If you are going to hit or stand up for a teammate then make it hard and mean. That means bringing a strong forecheck and not giving up on the puck. I don’t know if the boys can over-come the skill set the Winterhawks possess, but they are capable of making it hard for them to use it easily. No easy goals. The puck drops at the Coliseum at 7pm, Tuesday March 26.
Three Stars
1. Brendan Leipsic
2. Taylor Leier
3. Brett Kulak
Dondo’s Doghouse: bury Dominik Volek in there. He simply did not show up and hampered most lines he was on as he also coasted back on the back-check. I did not like any aspect of his game and he never looked remotely dangerous.
Dondo’s Hardhat: I’m giving it to Trent Lofthouse. He was noticed all night, but he was grinding hard in the offensive zone and I felt brought the most complete game. That said I think he has more in the tank. I better see every last player draining their reserves to force a game five.
GM 3 RD 1 - Giants 3 Winterhawks 6 - Mar 25, 2014
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