Pre-Game Report: Giants at Royals

The Vancouver Giants (25-19-5-3) will play the first of back-to-back games on Vancouver Island against the Victoria Royals (33-16-0-2) on Friday evening. The game will mark the seventh meeting between the teams this season. They have split the season series evenly with three regulation wins apiece.

The G-Men will look to pick up their second straight victory after defeating the Kamloops Blazers 5-3 on Wednesday evening. Dalton Sward had two goals in the win. The 20-year-old has been on fire in the month of January, tallying nine goals and two assists in nine games. The Vancouver power play has been trending in the right direction as well with the Giants scoring on eight of their last 10 opportunities with the man advantage.

The Royals haven't played since Saturday when they beat the Giants 3-1 at the Pacific Coliseum. The Victoria club is on a three game winning streak and sits in third place in the Western Conference with a one point cushion on the fourth place Seattle Thunderbirds. Forward Brandon Magee has been hot of late as the Edmonton native is on a five game point streak. Magee has been good against the G-Men this year as well, potting four goals and three assists in the six games against Vancouver.

Where: Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre; Victoria, BC

When: 7:00pm (The Pre-Game Show starts at 6:30pm.)

Listen: TEAM 1410 and teamradio.ca.

Vancouver Giants This Week: January 30, 2014

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Sward Pots Two in Win Over Kamloops

Dalton Sward had two goals as the Vancouver Giants skated to a 5-3 win over the Kamloops Blazers at the Pacific Coliseum on Wednesday evening. Vancouver also got goals from Arvin Atwal, Dominik Volek and Cain Franson while Payton Lee made 16 saves for the victory.

Sward opened the scoring for the Giants on the power play in the first period when he pounced on a giveaway by Blazers goalie Cole Kehler and netted his 14th of the year. Atwal rippled the mesh with a power play marker of his own a few minutes later, sneaking a long wrist shot across the goal line. Volek gave the Giants a three-goal lead with a goal of the year candidate as he dangled through a couple of Kamloops defenders before burying a hard backhander. Cole Ully answered back for the Blazers late in the frame, completing a tic-tac-toe passing play with Chase Souto and Matt Revel to put Kamloops on the board.

Franson nearly extended the Vancouver lead in the middle frame with a great wraparound opportunity that went through the crease and out the far side. Shortly thereafter, Ully scored again to pull the Blazers to within one. However, the Giants responded in the final minute of the period when Sward tallied his second of the evening on a man advantage, firing a hard shot past Kehler, off the underside of the cross-bar and into the net.

The Blazers made it a one-goal game again in the third period when Collin Shirley forced a turnover at the Vancouver blue line and beat Lee top shelf on the glove side, but the Giants restored their two-goal lead again 1:09 later as Franson shovelled the rebound of a Mason Geertsen point shot into a yawning cage. The Kamloops club pulled the goalie in the late going but couldn't generate any more offence. With the victory, the Giants moved into a tie with the Everett Silvertips for sixth in the Western Conference.

The Giants will now head out on the road for a weekend double-header in Victoria against the Royals. The first game goes Friday night at 7:00pm. Hear the action on TEAM 1410 and teamradio.ca.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Dalton Sward - Vancouver
2. Cole Ully - Kamloops
3. Tyler Morrison - Vancouver

Pre-Game Report: Giants vs. Blazers

The Vancouver Giants (24-19-5-3) will return to action on Wednesday night when they play host to the Kamloops Blazers (11-34-2-3) at the Pacific Coliseum. Vancouver is a perfect 5-0 against Kamloops in the season series thus far.

The last time the two teams met, on January 17th in Kamloops, Giants Head Coach Don Hay won his 600th game in the WHL. Since that meeting, the G-Men have gone 1-4-0-0 and are coming off a loss to the Victoria Royals on Saturday night. Despite the slow stretch of late, the Vancouver club has remained in seventh in the Western Conference and sits two points behind the sixth place Everett Silvertips.

The Blazers played on Tuesday night, falling 6-3 to the Spokane Chiefs on home ice. Kamloops has lost three straight and will complete a stretch of four games in five nights on Wednesday. The Blazers are quite banged up at the moment with Eric Krienke, Matt Needham, Tyson Ness, Luke Harrison and goaltender Justin Myles all absent from the line-up due to injuries while Sam Grist left the loss to Spokane after taking a heavy hit from Mike Aviani of the Chiefs.

Where: Pacific Coliseum

When: 7:00pm

Tickets: Visit vancouvergiants.com or call 604-4-GIANTS

Listen: TEAM 1410 and teamradio.ca (The Pre-Game Show starts at 6:30pm.)

G-Men Fall to Royals 3-1

The Vancouver Giants dropped a 3-1 decision to the Victoria Royals at the Pacific Coliseum on Saturday night. Dalton Sward had the only Vancouver goal in the loss while Brandon Magee, Jordan Fransoo and Logan Nelson rippled the mesh for the visitors.

Magee opened the scoring for Victoria early in the first with a long wrester from the top of the right circle that found its way past Payton Lee in the Vancouver net through traffic. The Giants responded with a good energy shift, and Tim Traber and Thomas Foster both had good opportunities in close but couldn't will the puck across the goal line. Fransoo extended the lead for the Royals before the end of the period when he hammered a long slap shot off the post and in for his second of the season.

Nelson made it 3-0 in the middle frame. After a turnover at the Vancouver blue line, the 20-year-old skated in all alone on Lee and beat him with a pretty move to the backhand. Sward put the Giants on the board before the end of the stanza, blowing a slap shot past Victoria goalie Patrik Polivka off the rush. The goal was Sward's fifth shorthanded marker of the season, leaving him in a tie for second in the league.

Mason Geertsen came close to scoring Vancouver's second goal of the night when he got the puck at the left point and teed off on a slapper, but the puck bounced off the post and stayed out of the Victoria goal. Cain Franson had a golden opportunity as well when he hammered a hard shot off Polivka's mask from the left boards and had a second chance on a wraparound but blew a tire before he could tuck the puck into the yawning cage.

The Giants will conclude their four-game home stand on Wednesday evening with a match-up against the Kamloops Blazers. The face-off is set for 7:00pm. For tickets, call 604-4-GIANTS or visit vancouvergiants.com.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Brandon Magee - Victoria
2. Dalton Sward - Vancouver
3. Logan Nelson - Victoria

Pre-Game Report: Giants vs. Royals

The Vancouver Giants (24-18-5-3) will continue their four-game home stand on Saturday night when they host the Victoria Royals (32-16-0-2) at the Rink on Renfrew. It's the sixth meeting between the teams this season. Vancouver is 3-2-0-0 against the Royals.

The G-Men are riding high after a huge 10-0 win over the league-worst Lethbridge Hurricanes on Friday evening. 17 different players hit the scoresheet for the Giants in the victory. The Vancouver power play came to life as well, going 5-for-5, while Payton Lee picked up his first shutout of the season. Carter Popoff had three helpers in the game to move into second in the WHL in assists with 43 while Dalton Sward netted his fourth shorthanded goal of the year. He sits in third in the league in goals on the penalty kill.

The Royals played on Friday evening as well, defeating the Kamloops Blazers 7-2 at the Interior Savings Centre. Jack Walker scored twice for Victoria in the victory. The Royals sit in third in the Western Conference and are now only three points back of the second place Portland Winterhawks. Victoria added defenseman Travis Brown in a deal with the Moose Jaw Warriors before the trade deadline. The Winnipeg native has three points in six game since joining the Royals.

Where: Pacific Coliseum

When: 7:00pm

Tickets: Visit vancouvergiants.com or call 604-4-GIANTS

Listen: TEAM 1040 and teamradio.ca (The Pre-Game Show starts at 6:30pm.)

Giants Put Up 10 Against 'Canes

The Vancouver Giants bumped a three-game losing streak with a colossal 10-0 win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes at the Pacific Coliseum on Friday night. Payton Lee made 18 saves for his first shutout of the year while Dalton Sward and Jackson Houck both scored twice for Vancouver. The Giants also got goals from Tyler Morrison, Travis McEvoy, Luca Leone, Thomas Foster, Ty Ronning and Arvin Atwal.

Lee made a big stop early in the hockey game on Brady Ramsay who had a chance to open the scoring from the slot after a turnover deep in the Vancouver end. Hurricanes goalie Jonny Hogue responded with a critical save of his own, robbing Carter Popoff on a one-timer on the power play. Morrison found the net first for Vancouver on a man advantage when he hammered a long slap shot off the post and in for his fifth of the season. McEvoy made it 2-0 before the end of the opening period, chipping a rebound past Hogue from right in front of the net.

Sward gave the G-Men a three goal lead on a penalty kill as he followed up after Cain Franson was stopped on a breakaway and shovelled home the loose puck. The goal marked Sward's fourth shorthanded marker of the season. Leone added his name to the scoresheet with his second of the season, chasing Hogue from the Lethbridge net, but Vancouver wasn't done there as Foster scored off his own rebound to give the Giants a five goal advantage through 40 minutes.

The Giants struck twice in quick succession early in the third to take a 7-0 lead. Sward potted his second of the evening before Houck rippled the mesh for his team-leading 26th of the season. Ronning netted his fifth of the year on a power play, chipping a loose puck in the Lethbridge crease across the goal line. Atwal joined the scoring party on the man advantage as he walked down the left wing and made a nice move around Hurricanes keeper Jarrod Schamerhorn before tucking the puck inside the right post, and Houck added his second of the night to round out the scoring. The victory marked the most goals the Giants have scored in a game this season and was just the second time the Vancouver club has shutout its opposition.

The G-Men will be right back at it at the Rink on Renfrew on Saturday night to host the Victoria Royals. The face-off is set for 7:00pm. For tickets, call 604-4-GIANTS or visit vancouvergiants.com.

3 Stars:
1. Dalton Sward - Vancouver
2. Luca Leone - Vancouver
3. Payton Lee - Vancouver