Despite almost doubling the number of Vancouver Giants' shots on goal, (43-22) the Spokane Chiefs were not able to get the puck in the net more than twice, ultimately spelling their defeat, 3-2, in the third game of the WHL playoffs.
The reason for that success was Burke Hood. The Giants goaltender made 41 saves on Wednesday night down in Washington State, helping his team defeat the hosting Chiefs, noted Giants associate coach Adam Maglio.
"Hood was outstanding," Maglio said, explaining that the Giants had another strong start and this time they were rewarded for on the scoreboard.
Ty Halaburda deflected one home from just outside the crease 77 seconds into the game to give the G-Men an early 1-0 lead.
Less than six minutes later, the G-Men's London Hoilett spun and fired a shot from left boards that found its way top corner past Chief's netminder Dawson Cowan to double Vancouver's lead.
Chiefs got on the board with a goal in the final minute of the first, making it a 2-1 score after 20 minutes. That was followed by another Chiefs goal 鈥� the only one in the second period.
Maglio said it could have been worse for Vancouver, if not for Hood, who made 32 saves on 34 shots in those first 40 minutes.
"There were some shifts where we were hemmed in our zone and Hood did his job all night and gave us belief. Actually to be honest he gave us some momentum with some big saves. Got us through two periods," said Maglio.
Hood, who marked his first career playoff victory with this game, then began the third by making a "fantastic" post-to-post save to keep the game knotted 2-2.
Then midway through the third, Cameron Schmidt danced his way into the Chiefs' zone and dished the puck to his right to Connor Levis, who dragged the puck around the defender's stick and sniped a shot high glove past Cowan to give Vancouver a 3-2 lead and ultimate win.
"I thought our third was obviously our best period," said the associate coach. "Our guys stuck with it and we found a way and that's really important in the playoffs."
Giants' Ethan Mittelsteadt was named the game's first star thanks to a three-assist performance.
"[We had] some guys that don't hit the scoresheet as much, make some huge plays [and] showed how much they care. I'm not going to lie, I thought through the first two periods we needed more guys to do that stuff. But I think in the third, our true character came out and you could just see there was a will, there was a want and we found a way," Maglio added.
"We bent but we didn't break and we come out on top tonight."
The Giants now trail the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Games 4 and 5 of the series are also being played in Spokane, with game 4 set for tonight (Thursday) and the next on Saturday. Assuming the G-Men can win at least one of those next two games, the teams will be back up in Canada next week. They'll play at 91原创 Events Centre on Monday, April 7, with a 7 p.m. puck drop.
