Vancouver Giants were shut out 3-0 by the Portland Winterhawks on Sunday evening, Dec.31 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but it could have been worse if not for a 50-save performance from Giants goaltender Brett Mirwald.
Giants Associate Coach Adam Maglio said 鈥渋t was one of those games where it could have turned. You鈥檙e one goal [away] in the third, it was just one shot away, but we certainly didn鈥檛 generate enough to create enough chances,鈥� Maglio assessed.
鈥淎gainst this team, you鈥檝e got to be really, really disciplined. You can鈥檛 over extend your minutes on the ice, especially from our top guys. That tweaked momentum a little bit, but we were still in it, we were one shot away there for a bit. But we鈥檝e got to move on.鈥�
Despite the lopsided shot counter 鈥� which read 53-14 by the end of the game 鈥� the Giants were right there knocking on the door throughout the contest, trailing 1-0 after 40 minutes.
Josh Davies鈥� deflection off James Stefan鈥檚 shot made it 2-0 for Portland midway through the third and the Winterhawks added an empty-net goal to make it a 3-0 final.
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The only goal in the first two periods actually went in off a skate, as Winterhawks forward Josh Zakreski deflected off a Giants player to make it 1-0 for Portland at the 9:29 mark of the opening period.
Vancouver got into some penalty trouble near the end of the second, but Mirwald helped them kill off three straight infractions, including a 5-on-3.
Vancouver tried to push in the third, but Portland extended their lead after Stefan鈥檚 wrist shot from the blueline was deflected in by Davies.
Stefan added an empty-net goal with 2:52 left in regulation to make it a 3-0 final.
With the loss, Vancouver鈥檚 record falls to 13-21-2-0 this season. Portland improves to 23-10-1-1.
Mirwald was named second star of the game.
Next, Giants host the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. ,
It will be their last game at the LEC until Jan. 21, following a two-week road trip to Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
