G-Men Defeat Cougars 5-2

The Vancouver Giants got three goals in the second period en route to a 5-2 win over the Prince George Cougars at the Pacific Coliseum on Monday evening. The G-Men got goals from Joel Hamilton, Thomas Foster, Carter Popoff, Tim Traber and Jackson Houck while Jared Rathjen made 27 saves for his eighth win of the season.

Hamilton opened the scoring for Vancouver late in the opening frame on the power play when he beat Ty Edmonds in the Prince George net with a shot from the slot that snuck in on the stick side. The Cougars answered back to tie the game less than a minute later when Tyler Mrkonjic deflected a Raymond Grewal point shot past Rathjen to put the Cougars on the board.

The Giants took control of the game in the second period. Foster tallied his third of the year off the rush with a wrist shot from the right circle, and Popoff made it 3-1 just 12 seconds later when he scored on a backhander that beat Edmonds on the short side. Traber would add his name to the score sheet later in the stanza when he was sprung in all alone after a nice stretch pass from Brett Kulak and wired a hard shot past Edmonds. Zach Pochiro pulled the Cougars back to within two goals late in the period, scoring on the man advantage with just over a minute left in the frame.

The Prince George club pressured the Giants in the third period, heavily out shooting Vancouver in the first 10 minutes of the stanza, but the G-Men held strong, and Rathjen stopped all 12 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes while Houck added an empty netter.

Vancouver returns to action on Friday with the first of back-to-back meetings with the Kelowna Rockets at the Pacific Coliseum. The face-off is set for 7:30pm. For tickets, call 604-4-GIANTS or visit vancouvergiants.com.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Brett Kulak - Vancouver
2. Dalton Thrower - Vancouver
3. Thomas Foster - Vancouver