Vancouver Giants were down 3-1 against Portland Winterhawks after the first period Friday night, and every time they got to within a goal, the visitors would respond
The 6-5 loss drops the Giants’ overall record to 5-7-0-1, while the Winterhawks improve to 6-5-0-0.
Vancouver got goals on Friday from Ty Halaburda, Cameron Schmidt, Adam Titlbach, Aaron Obobaifo and Tobias Tobik.
Nathan Free had two goals for Portland, while Alex Weiermair, Sam Spehar, Reed Brown and Jordan Duguay each scored once.
Giants Head Coach Parker Burgess saw “a lot of positives.”
“We were right there at the end,” Burgess commented.
“We didn’t quit. We found ways. Even with 20 seconds left, I thought we were going to be able to tie it up and send it to overtime. But any time you score five goals in a game, you’ve got to find a way to win. For our group, old habits die hard it seems. We do some things that are self-inflicted and put us in a tough spot.”
Halaburda opened the scoring for the Giants early on a power play, when Schmidt’s shot led to a loose puck in the crease that Halaburda poked home.
Portland responded with three consecutive goals.
Midway through the second period, Schmidt got the Giants to within a goal when he scored his seventh of the season from the right circle.
With less than five minutes left in the second, Portland scored.
Titlbach scored early in the third period it 4-3, but another quick response from Portland made it 5-3.
At the 7:24 mark of the third period, the Giants showed they still wouldn’t go away when Obobaifo and Schmidt played give-and-go to make it a 5-4 game.
Duguay scored the eventual game-winner just a few minutes later on a goal off the rush.
Tomik scored shorthanded with the extra attacker out with 1:45 remaining in regulation, getting the Giants to within a goal yet again, but 6-5 was as close as they’d get.
Next, Giants play a home-and-home with Kamloops next weekend, Saturday at 6 p.m. in Kamloops and Sunday at 4 p.m. back at the Langley Events Centre.