Vancouver Giants netminder Brett Mirwald has been named the WHL goaltender of the week 鈥� and this isn鈥檛 the first time.
In fact, it鈥檚 the third time the 20-year-old has snagged the honour this season.
This past weekend, went 2-0-0-0 in back-to-back showdowns against Seattle and Wenatchee, putting up a 1.50 goals-against average and .955 save percentage, as Vancouver continues to claw its way up the WHL standings.
The Giants are currently on an eight-game point streak, with a 7-0-1 record during that stretch, and currently sit in sixth place in the western conference, seven points back of Victoria for fifth with two games in hand.
Mirwald, the second-year Giants netminder, held the Seattle Thunderbirds to a single goal in a 3-1 victory on Friday. Mirwald earned first star by turning aside 35 of 36 shots in Kent. It marked the third straight game where he made 35 or more saves.
After allowing two goals in the first period against the Wenatchee Wild the following night, Mirwald slammed the door as the Giants scored seven unanswered to take the win.
In that game, Mirwald stopped 28 of 30, including what was called 鈥渁 remarkable pad save鈥� on Briley Wood as the Wild alternate captain attempted to tie the game with a powerplay blast from below the faceoff dot.
With the 7-2 decision, Vancouver remains a perfect 6-0-0-0 on home ice at the 91原创 Events Centre (LEC) in 2024.
The Saskatoon, Sask. product is in the midst of an incredible campaign, with a 21-17-2-0 record, 3.17 goals-against average and .912 save percentage.
He has faced the most shots of any WHL goaltender this season (1,448), made the most saves (1,321) and played the second-most minutes (2,404).
His 21 wins rank fifth and his .912 save percentage ranks seventh in the WHL.
Mirwald is 8-1-1 in his last 10 games and has started 10 of Vancouver鈥檚 last 12 contests.
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SATURDAY: Giants erase early 2-0 deficit to crush Wild 7-2
The trio of Kyren Gronick, Connor Levis, and Cameron Schmidt combined for eight points in a 7-2 come-from-behind win over the Wenatchee Wild on Saturday night at home in the LEC.
The Giants are now winners of four straight and are 7-0-1 in their last eight contests.
Vancouver is also back to .500 for the first time since early October, with an overall record now of 24-24-3-0. Wenatchee falls to 27-21-4-0 this season.
Head coach Manny Viveiros noted after the game that the Giants did get off to a slow start.
鈥淥ur game plan was to get on them right away and put them under pressure, but they weren鈥檛 having anything to do with that. They actually flipped the script on us and came after us pretty hard and we caught ourselves in that first period standing still a little bit too much and they were coming after us hard and we had a hard time handling a bit of their speed,鈥� the coach elaborated.
鈥淚 thought once we got our feet going again鈥� we were much better,鈥� Viveiros said.
鈥淭he way they competed and stuck with it, I was very happy with that. This weekend was a really good weekend here. One thing I liked is 鈥� that鈥檚 a positive for us 鈥� is we鈥檝e still got room to improve. That鈥檚 the best thing. If we can dial it in a bit more, we can get better and better here. That鈥檚 the exciting part of it with this young group.鈥�
During the last month plus, since Christmas, the coach credited the team with 鈥渞eally come together, they鈥檝e really bonded.鈥�
Helping secure Saturday鈥檚 victory were Connor Levis (16th, 17th) and Kyren Gronick (6th, 7th) , who each had a pair of goals in the win, while Ty Halaburda (16th), Matthew Edwards (2nd), and Jaden Lipinski (15th) also scored in the win.
Goaltender Mirwald made 28 saves on 30 shots for his 21st win of the season. He is now 10-2-1 in his last 13 games.
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FRIDAY: Giants push point streak to 7, with 3-1 win over Thunderbirds
Mirwald stonewalled the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday night, stopping 35 of 36 shots thrown his way to help the Vancouver Giants to a 3-1 win at the accesso ShoWare Center.
The win was the third in a row for the Giants and gave the club points in seven consecutive games (6-0-1), while improving the team鈥檚 record in 2024 to 10-3-1.
Vancouver is now 3-0 against Seattle this season, with Mirwald having allowed just three goals on 93 shots, noted associate coach Adam Maglio.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think we had our A game tonight, but I certainly think we鈥檙e finding our B game and that鈥檚 something good teams do, right?鈥� Maglio said.
鈥淢aybe we didn鈥檛 have our legs tonight, early on especially鈥� I thought in the third that was our best period. I just thought early on we were a little but sleepy. But we had our B-game tonight, found a way to win, [Mirwald] was outstanding,鈥� he said.
鈥淥verall鈥� there were some positives for sure.鈥� Maglio concluded.
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UP NEXT:
The Giants have a three-game week on the horizon, as they鈥檒l travel to the Island to battle the Victoria Royals on Wednesday, Feb. 14, before a home-and-home with the western conference-leading Portland Winterhawks on Friday and Saturday. The home game on Friday in CMHA Night, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. at the 91原创 Events Centre.
For tickets,
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