Vancouver Giants did it again, coming back to top the Kamloops Blazers on Sunday afternoon at Langley Events Centre, winning 5-3 after being down 3-1.
It was their second come-from-behind victory against Kamloops in as many days, following Saturday night’s 5-4 road win.
“It was a good weekend for sure,” Giants General Manager Hnat Domenichelli commented. “What I was really happy with tonight is the push back and in the third game in three nights, the group stuck together. A lot of character.”
“I thought fatigue was a factor for both teams: 3-in-3,” Domenichelli said. “But we stuck with it.”
The win improves the Giants’ overall record to 7-7-0-1, while the Blazers fall to 6-6-1-1.
Vancouver is now 5-1-0-1 in their last seven games.
Giants got two goals on Sunday from draft-eligible forward Tyus Sparks, plus single tallies from Jakob Oreskovic, Blake Chorney and Cameron Schmidt. Schmidt also extended his point streak to seven games (8G-6A).
Burke Hood picked up his sixth win of the season with a 22-save performance.
Josh Evaschesen, Isa Guram and Kayd Ruedig each scored for the Blazers.
Blazers got out to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes after a goal from Evaschesen, when he took a pass from Tommy Lafreniere and buried his sixth goal of the season.
The Giant tied the game early in the second period after a shorthanded goal from Oreskovic, who beat Edmonstone five-hole after getting a pass from Chorney on a 2-on-1.
On the same Blazers power play, they restored their lead just 35 seconds later, thanks to Burnaby native Isa Guram.
Less than two minutes later, defenceman Ruedig tried to centre the puck from behind the net, only to have it deflect off two Giants and unintentionally go into the back of the net, increasing Kamloops’ lead to 3-1.
Late in the second period, Vancouver cut the deficit to one, when Chorney beat Edmontsone on a 2-on-1 thanks to a great feed from Adam Titlbach.
It didn’t take long for the Giants to find the equalizer, tying the game 3-3 just 19 seconds into the third period when Sparks deflected Lin’s point shot home.
The Giants would get a power play midway through the third with the game still tied, when Obobaifo took the puck from Ryan Michael – after he fanned on a clearing attempt – and saw Schmidt heading to the net, feeding him a cross-crease pass to put the Giants up for the first time in the game.
Sparks would add an empty-net goal from his own end to make the final score 5-3.
Giants host Kelowna and Prince George next weekend.