Vancouver Giants Head Coach Parker Burgess called their slow start and 4-1 loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Tuesday “unacceptable.”
Calgary had a strong first period, outshooting Vancouver 19-4 and taking a 2-0 lead. and then added two third period insurance markers to take the lone head-to-head game of the season.
Giants didn’t get on the scoreboard until the third period.
Tyus Sparks scored the lone goal for Vancouver late in the third period on a power play, his 16th of the season, while Cameron Schmidt registered an assist to increase his point streak to 18 games.
“I didn’t think we came out with the pressure and urgency that we needed to early in the game, especially in the first period,” Burgess said.
“I thought in the first period we just stood around and sat back. It’s an unacceptable start for our group. I thought in the second period we found it a little bit…and then in the third period [we had] a d-zone breakdown.”
Julien Maze scored twice for Calgary, while Landon Amrhein and Ethan Moore each found the back of the net once.
Maze opened the scoring midway through the first when he found the back of the net from the left circle on a 2-on-1 rush.
Less than four minutes later, Amrhein had the puck go off his skate and into the net after it hit the end boards and landed back in front of the net, making it 2-0 for the visitors.
After getting outshot 19-4 in the first, the Giants pushed back in the second, outshooting Calgary 12-8, but Eric Tu made 12 saves.
Maze scored the dagger at the 11:01 mark of the third period, when he found free space in the slot and roofed it for his 18th of the season and second of the game.
Moore tipped in a shot from Andrei Molgachev on a power play less than two minutes later to make it 4-0.
Sparks ripped a one-timer past Tu late in the third period on a 5-on-3 power play for the only Giants goal of the game.
Giants head to the U.S. for a pair of games to begin the new year, a Thursday, Jan. 2 game in Spokane, followed by a Friday visit to Portland.