Vancouver Giants netminder Kelton Pyne had 35 saves on 37 shots, including 16 saves in the first period alone, as the G-Men hosted the Red Deer Rebels Sunday at Langley Events Centre.
After 20 scoreless minutes, the teams exchanged second period goals, tying the game 1-1 heading into the final frame, when Red Deer scored a power play goal in the third period to take the game 2-1 in regulation.
Giants head coach Parker Burgess summed it up.
“There were some areas that I thought we definitely improved on and we were right in the fight. We talked to the guys before the game and just said ‘Hey if we give up three or less and we take three or less minors, we’re putting ourselves in a really good position to win a hockey game.’ And we did both of those things, but obviously you’ve got to try to get more than one goal to win the game. We had some chances there, especially in the last 40 minutes.”
Brett Olson (10th) scored the lone goal for the Giants.
Giants played the Rebels with five regulars out of the lineup due to injury, including two of their top-4 defencemen and three top-six forwards.
Vancouver now has a record of 18-29-1-2 (39 points). Red Deer improves to 17-27-2-2 (38 points), currently sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Talon Brigley and Nate Yellowaga each found the back of the net for Red Deer.
Brigley opened the scoring 5:14 into the second when Kohen Lodge’s shot hit him and deflected again before getting past Pyne.
Just a few minutes later, Olson snapped home a one-timer on the power play to tie the game, with assists coming from Tobias Tomík and Will Sharpe.
Less than seven minutes into the third period, Kalder Varga entered the Giants zone down the right wing off the rush on the power play and connected with Yellowaga, who found a soft spot in the slot and proceeded to snap in the game-winning-goal.
Giants next home game is on Friday, February 6 against Spokane at 7 p.m.