RECAP: The Giants dropped a 3-0 decision to the Prince George Cougars on Wednesday night. Up next: A Friday evening tilt with the Kelowna Rockets.

More:

馃摳: Allen Douglas

鈥� Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants)

Vancouver Giants easily out shot their opposition Wednesday night in Kamloops, but it wasn鈥檛 enough to secure a victory. They ultimately fell 3-0 to the Cougars.

With 26 shots on the Prince George goal 鈥� five of those alone from Tristen Nielsen 鈥� not one of the G-Men鈥檚 attempts made it inside the line for a point.

Sad news for the Giants. But, it was great news for Cougar鈥檚 netminder Taylor Gauthier, who earned himself player of the game accolades for stopping each and ever shot sent his way.

In rebuttal, Prince George managed to fire 13 times at the Giants鈥� net, squeezing three of those past goalie Drew Sim.

LATEST TRIUMPH - VIDEO: Vancouver Giants win 5-4 shootout against Victoria

Play-by-play broadcaster Dan O鈥機onnor noted that the Giants have held their opponent to 20-or-fewer shots against in nine of the 19 games they鈥檝e played this season.

In just their second shut out of the season, the Giants moved to 10 wins and nine losses, with only three games left in the regular season, said forward Zack Ostapchuk just days ahead of his 18th birthday.

鈥淚 thought we played good. I think we definitely played better than we did last time against these guys,鈥� the left-handed shooter from St. Albert, Alta. shared after Wednesday night鈥檚 defeat.

RECENT GAME: Giants drop 5-2 decision to Prince George

鈥淏ut, at the end of the day, we just couldn鈥檛 finish our chances鈥� it was a better effort today, but still not good enough 鈥� obviously.鈥�

He described the Cougars as tough opponents who are not 鈥渇lashy鈥� but who play sound defence, have strong goaltending, and are always in position.

Despite Wednesday鈥檚 loss, Ostapchuk isn鈥檛 giving up, and neither are his teammates, sharing his excitement for the future of his team.

Heading into the final games of the year, with no playoffs or championships planned due to COVID, Ostapchuk describes the upcoming games as a 鈥渄o or die鈥� situation.

鈥淗onestly, I think we want to end this bubble off on a good note for sure, so three straight is our mindset. But, we鈥檒l take it one game at a time and put our best foot forward.鈥�

Back at it Friday night.

鈥� Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants)

The play the final trio of games in Kamloops. They face off against Kelowna Friday night, Kamloops Saturday, and then the final game of the year against Victoria on Tuesday, May 11.

.

BY THE NUMBERS

1st period:

No Scoring

Shots: 9-6 Prince George

2nd period:

PG 鈥� The game鈥檚 first goal came at 4:36 of the middle-frame on a breakaway courtesy of Cougars rookie forward Koehn Ziemmer. Ziemmer made a nifty move to the backhand on a deke to secure his eighth of the season.

PG 鈥� Ziemmer wasn鈥檛 done. He struck again at 17:31 when he took the puck from the corner, skated into the slot, and spun and fired a low shot by the pad of Drew Sim. Riley Heidt added the lone assist.

Shots: 12-4 Vancouver

3rd period:

PG 鈥� Tyson Upper cemented the victory for Prince George with an unassisted empty net goal at 18:31.

Shots: 8-3 Vancouver

.

Final score: Prince George 3 鈥� Vancouver 0

Final shots: 26-16 Vancouver

Drew Sim: 13/15 saves for Vancouver

Taylor Gauthier: 26/26 saves for Prince George

Vancouver Power Play: 0/2

Prince George Power Play: 0/6

3 Stars: 1) Taylor Gauthier (PG 鈥� Shutout); 2) Koehn Ziemmer (PG 鈥� 2G); and 3) Riley Heidt (PG 鈥� 1A)

.