Giants Jump Above .500 with Win in Prince George

Quesnel native Tim Traber had the winning goal late in the second period as the Vancouver Giants downed the Prince George Cougars 5-3 at the CN Centre on Saturday night. The G-Men also got goals from Jackson Houck, Blake Orban, Dalton Thrower and Cain Franson while Jared Rathjen made 31 saves for his fourth win of the season. The win improved Vancouver's record to 12-11-4-2 and marked the ninth straight game that the Giants have picked up at least a single point.

Houck opened the scoring at 3:52 of the first when he chipped a rebound past Prince George goalie Ty Edmonds for his 13th goal of the year. Orban made it 2-0 later in the frame on a one-timer after Joel Hamilton found him in the slot with a pass from the bottom of the left circle. Thrower added his name to the score sheet with a shot from the right point, but the Cougars countered before the end of the period when Marc McNulty beat Rathjen with a long shot through traffic.

The Cougars carried the momentum from their opening goal into the second period and came back to tie the game. First, Alex Forsberg deflected a McNulty shot into the Vancouver net, and Sam Ruopp made it 3-3 with a point shot of his own. Traber scored the eventual winner late in the stanza, burying a chance in the slot after a nice pass from Thomas Foster off the left wing.

Prince George had a couple of good chances in the third to tie the game again, but Rathjen kept the puck out, and Franson added an empty net goal with less than a minute remaining to clinch the victory for the G-Men.

The Giants get back at it on Tuesday night when they face the Kelowna Rockets for the first time this season in the Okanagan. The puck drop is set for 7:00pm. Tune-in to TEAM 1410 and teamradio.ca for the play-by-play.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Cain Franson - Vancouver
2. Todd Fiddler - Prince George
3. Dalton Thrower - Vancouver