It was an empty weekend for the Vancouver Giants.
Despite twice entering the third period with the score tied against the Spokane Chiefs, the Giants failed to earn any points as they saw their losing streak reach five games (0-3-1-1).
The Giants surrendered a pair of third-period goals in a 3-1 loss on Friday in Spokane and allowed three goals (two of which were into the empty net) in the final frame on Saturday at 91原创 Events Centre as they fell 6-3 to complete the home-and-home series.
With the teams deadlocked at three nearing the midway point of the third, Eli Zummack got a step on his defender and redirected a pass from Luke Toporowski for what turned out to be the winning goal.
鈥淲e were in the same position as last night: going into the third period tied and one mistake and they take advantage of it. We had ample opportunities to score and we didn鈥檛 finish,鈥� lamented head coach Michael Dyck.
PAST GAME: Giants fall to Chiefs Friday night down south
The lack of goal scoring is something the players know they need to remedy.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 go off on our own page, we need to continue to stick to the structure,鈥� said Tristan Nielsen. 鈥淲e are getting our chances, we just really need to know to score again. I think it is just a mindset.鈥�
Vancouver is just one of four Western Hockey League teams to have scored less than 100 goals and they are averaging just 2.49 goals per game. After scoring four or more goals 11 times in the season鈥檚 first 24 games, the Giants have only done so three times in the past 15 games. Vancouver is a perfect 14-0-0-0 when scoring four or more goals and just 3-18-2-2 when they fail to reach that mark.
RECAP: The Giants dropped the back-half of a home-and-home series with Spokane Saturday at home. Despite the loss, Tristen Nielsen arrived at the 20-goal mark while Alex Kannok Leipert and Eric Florchuk had multi-point games.
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Despite the loss (which extends Vancouver鈥檚 losing streak to a season-high) there were positive developments, although early on that did not appear to be the way the game was heading.
Spokane鈥檚 Filip Kral and Zummack gave Spokane a 2-0 lead just 4:15 into the contest but Nielsen and Tyler Preziuso responded with goals 3:45 apart, both of which came on the Giants power play. It marked just the second time this season Vancouver scored multiple power-play goals and the 2-for-4 performance lifted the team鈥檚 much-maligned man-advantage unit out of dead-last in the WHL. Vancouver now sits 21st out of 22 teams, operating at a paltry 12.9 per cent (17-for-132).
And the Giants took a 3-2 lead to the locker room thanks to a deft deflection from Zack Ostapchuk on a great pass from Kaden Kohle in the final minute of the first period. The lead stood until the 15:04 mark of the middle stanza when Adam Beckman drew the visitors even.
The loss drops Vancouver to 17-18-2-2 and 38 points through 39 games.
The players know that the team needs to start getting some positive results with only 29 games to go in the regular season.
鈥淭his is the start of the season, the (trade) deadline is over 鈥� we really have to start buying in and winning some games,鈥� Nielsen said. 鈥淭he second half is all about results. We have to figure out a way to get the team to win, I have to figure something out to help us win.鈥�
AHEAD OF SATURDAY鈥橲 GAME
Game Notes
Vancouver make two moves prior to Friday鈥檚 WHL trade deadlines, acquiring Kaden Kohle and Eric Florchuk. Both players made their home debut on Friday with Florchuk picking up a pair of assists while Kohle had one helper.
Captain Alex Kannok Leipert had three assists in Saturday鈥檚 loss.
Final shots on goal were 32 apiece for the teams.
Both teams were missing their star defencemen as Vancouver鈥檚 Bowen Byram and Spokane鈥檚 Ty Smith sat out the game. Neither has returned to their respective team after helping Canada win gold in the Czech Republic at the 2020 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
The Giants are now off until Friday when they host the Victoria Royals at 91原创 Events Centre. Game time is 7:30 p.m. It is one of three games for Vancouver that weekend as they travel to Victoria the next night before returning to 91原创 to face Kamloops on Sunday at 4 p.m.
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