Giants skate past Thunderbirds, sweep home-and-home meetings

Rempe, Roulette score in 3-2 loss to Vancouver

February 16, 2020 4:30 pm
Thunderbirds defenseman Tyrel Bauer pursues a flying puck during WHL play Saturday night. COURTESY PHOTO, Brian Liesse, T-Birds
Thunderbirds defenseman Tyrel Bauer pursues a flying puck during WHL play Saturday night. COURTESY PHOTO, Brian Liesse, T-Birds

The Vancouver Giants defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 in WHL play Monday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in British Columbia.

The Giants swept the home-and-home series, topping the Thunderbirds 6-2 on Saturday night at the accesso ShoWare Center.

Seattle is in the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 21-26-3-3 record. They are four points behind the Kelowna Rockets (24-26-2-2) for the first wild-card playoff spot. The T-Birds and Rockets will meet on March 6 in Kelowna in their fourth and final game of the season.

On Monday, Seattle goalie Blake Lyda was very solid in net. Lyda made 36 saves and stopped Tristen Nielsen three times on breakaways.

Simon Kubicek scored with 47 seconds left and Lyda on the bench to cut the Giants lead to one goal. Kubicek took a pass from Conner Roulette and beat Vancouver goalie David Tendeck from the left point.

Seattle pulled Lyda a second time off the faceoff after Kubicek’s goal. They pressured but were not able to get the tying goal.

Vancouver was up 2-0 after one period on power play goals by Bowen Byram at 13:13 and Tristen Nielsen at 17:06.

Early in the second period Blake Lyda stopped Tristen Nielsen on a breakaway with a right pad save. Just after this save the T-Birds cut the Giants lead to one goal.

Conner Roulette took a pass at the left point from Payton Mount. Roulette skated down the slot with the puck on his backhand. At the top of the crease Roulette brought the puck to his forehand and snapped it past Tendeck’s blocker. The goal was Roulette’s 17th of the season and gives him a five-game point streak.

Eric Florchuk scored at 9:33 of the second to put the Giants back in front by two goals.

Notes

The T-Birds return to the ice Tuesday against the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7:05 p.m. at the ShoWare Center. It’s a Chick-fil-A 2-for-Tuesday game featuring 2-for-1 tickets, hot dogs, popcorn and select beverages.

Single-game tickets are on sale on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare box office.

Fans who purchase the 24-flex ticket package will be able to select any available premium seat for any game, in any ticket combination, during the 2019-20 season.

MONDAY SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Vancouver, Byram 9 (Florchuk), 13:13 (pp). 2, Vancouver, Nielsen 28 (Byram, Florchuk), 17:06 (pp). Penalties – Horning, Van (roughing), 9:35. McNelly, Sea (roughing), 13:03. Kubicek, Sea (boarding), 15:49.

Second period – 3, Seattle, Roulette 17, 2:33. 4, Vancouver, Florchuk 19 (Kvasnica, Preziuso), 9:33. Penalties – Kubicek, Sea (major-fighting), 6:36. J. Shepard, Van (major-fighting, 10-minute misconduct), 6:36. Byram, Van (interference), 10:46. Patterson, Sea (slashing), 12:39.

Third period – 5, Seattle, Kubicek 7 (Roulette), 19:13. Penalties – Longo, Sea (interference), 5:10. Schaefer, Sea (major-fighting, game misconduct), 8:36. Lies, Van (major-fighting, game misconduct), 8:36. Byram, Van (major-checking from behind, game misconduct), 9:27. Rempe, Sea (roughing), 9:27. McNelly, Sea (roughing), 9:27. J. Shepard, Van (roughing), 9:27. Davidson, Sea (slashing), 17:04. Preziuso, Van (roughing), 18:47. Kukuca, Sea (roughing), 18:47. Bruggen-Cate, Sea (roughing), 19:57. Patterson, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:57. Roman, Van (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:57.

Shots on goal – Seattle 3-10-12 25, Vancouver 12-16-11 39. Goalies – Seattle, Lyda 39 shots-36 saves (3-8-0-0); Vancouver, Miner 25-23 (12-7-2-1). Power plays – Seattle 0-4; Vancouver 2-4. Referees – Ryan Benbow, Graedy Hamilton. Linesmen – Angus Middleton, Nathan Van Oosten.

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SATURDAY SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Vancouver, Roman 19 (Florchuk, Preziuso), 3:10 (pp). 2, Seattle, Sanders 2 (McNelly, Williamson), 9:31. 3, Vancouver, Nielsen 27 (Longo, Tendeck), 17:38 (sh). 4, Vancouver, Byram 8 (C. Shepard, Katzalay), 19:09. Penalties – Uchacz, Sea (slashing), 3:03. Davidson, Sea (hooking), 14:22. C. Shepard, Van (interference), 17:04.

Second period – 5, Vancouver, Roman 20 (Kannok Leipert, Nielsen), 4:37. 6, Seattle, Rempe 10 (Davidson, Roulette), 11:56 (pp). Penalties – Williams, Sea (roughing), 6:11. Kvasnica, Van (roughing), 6:11. Kohle, Van (holding), 10:44. Nielsen, Van (unsportsmanlike conduct), 14:39. Kannok Leipert, Van (hooking), 18:33. Jeri-Leon, Sea (hooking), 18:57.

Third period – 7, Vancouver, Roman 21 (Sourdif, Nielsen), 1:01. 8, Vancouver, Longo 5 (Kvasnica, Katzalay), 15:21. Penalties – Gendron, Van (tripping), 19:04.

Shots on goal – Seattle 7-9-7 23, Vancouver 10-12-10 32. Goalies – Seattle, Ross 32 shots-26 saves (17-19-3-3); Vancouver, Tendeck 23-21 (17-13-1-1). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Vancouver 1-3. Referees – Mike Campbell, Steve Papp. Linesmen – Kris Delaney, Mark Heier.