The Vancouver Giants were on the wrong end of a 4-0 score on Friday night, Oct. 20, in Wenatchee.
The Giants generated some good looks throughout the game, but were unable to beat goaltender Daniel Hauser, who finished with 39 saves.
The Giants had a very strong first period, outshooting the Wild 19-8 in their own barn. They also had a few good looks on two first period power plays, but could not solve Houser, going into the intermission with the score knotted 0-0.
The Wild scored on their first power play opportunity 3:07 into the second, when Conor Geekie roofed a shot from the bottom of the right circle.
Just a few minutes later, Briley Wood knocked the puck out of mid-air into the net off a rebound, making the score 2-0 for Wenatchee.
The Giants were unable to build any momentum after successfully killing off a double minor, and before the second period concluded, the Wild added to their lead, when Jonas Woo backhanded a pass to the slot to Kenta Isogai, who ripped a shot home for his fifth goal of the season and a 3-0 lead.
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Wenatchee did a good job of shutting things down in the third, and they added an insurance marker with just 1:45 left, on Luka Shcherbyna’s first WHL goal.
Associate Coach Adam Maglio thought the team had a good opening.
The Giants 19 shots on goal in the first period were the most they’ve had in any period this season
“I thought we started really well,” Maglio commented.
“I liked our first period. I think there were some costly puck decisions and at the end of the day it ends up in our net, but we did like our start. I think we need to be a little quicker on our decisions. I think sometimes we hang on a little too long. It allows the goalies to get set and at the end of the day, we need to find some greasy goals. That’s where we’ve got to start. We’ve got to start at the net, directing more pucks, getting in there and chipping away at this thing.”
With the loss, the Giants are now 2-4-1-0 this season.
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Giants 3-in-3 hits their second leg tonight, Saturday night Oct 21, with a stop in Kelowna to battle the Rockets at 7:05 p.m.
Then, Vancouver will wrap their busy weekend with their Referee Appreciation Night on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 4 p.m. vs. the Spokane Chiefs at Langley Events Centre. Giants will all be wearing striped jerseys.
