Turtle power helps Giants out of losing shell

(Vancouver Giants/Twitter)

​The Vancouver Giants will enter the week off of a 4-1 victory over the Tri-City Americans. It was the fourth game in five nights for the G-men who lost 4-1 to Prince Albert on Wednesday, 5-4 to Kelowna on Friday, and 4-2 to Kamloops on Saturday.

Despite playing three games in three days, the G-men would still come out of their shells to take down the Americans. Vancouver wore Ninja Turtle uniforms as part of Nickelodeon Night for the Children’s Miracle Network. All Canadian teams in the WHL will participate in the event at a game this season. It takes four turtles to take down an enemy and it took four goals for Vancouver to take down Tri-City. 

Carson Haynes, Vancouver’s 20-year-old defenceman, made his return in Sunday’s game and was a big help in holding off Tri-City’s league-leading power play. The Americans failed to record a power play goal on four opportunities and so to did the Giants. Despite the man-advantage struggles of both clubs the Giants would end up securing the winning goal short-handed.
Ethan Semeniuk deposited a pass from Jaden Lipinski to make it a 2-1 game for Vancouver. Ty Halaburda (16), Tyler Thorpe (3), and Ty Thorpe (26) also added markers. Michael Dyck pointed out that despite the team’s most dominant performance, Vancouver can’t forget about their recent struggles when they head back to practice this week. Injuries have also made it difficult for Vancouver to win their past few games having lost four of their past five.

Matthew Edwards (F, 05’), and Colton Langkow (F, 04’) are both out with upper-body injuries while Samuel Honzek (F, 04’) continues to deal with a leg injury. Honzek had his leg stepped on by an American player while playing for Slovakia at the world juniors. The good news for Giants fans is that Honzek has begun to skate at practices, but he hasn’t been participating in team drills and is still in a bit of discomfort. Vancouver’s 2002 import forward expects to hear his name called early at this summer’s NHL Draft.  The draft is set to take place in Nashville.
The Giants are a team that knows who they are and what they have and a strong work ethic is definitely high on their list. The Giants will get set to battle the Victoria Royals twice this weekend which includes a road game on Friday and a home game on Saturday. The Giants are currently four points back of the sixth-place Prince George Cougars who have a winning record of 22-21-4-0. Vancouver did lose to Kelowna 5-4 last Friday, but it’s the G-men who are ahead in the standings by seven points. 

Vancouver’s home game on Saturday against Victoria will be the first of five consecutive home games for the Giants. Saskatoon, Spokane, Prince George, and Everett are all set to have dates with the Giants at the LEC. Business still remains on the road this Friday and Vancouver will look to snag their 10-game season series with Victoria and a current record of 5-1-0-0 over the Royals.