Rathjen Shuts Out Silvertips

Trent Lofthouse scored the Teddy Bear Toss goal while Jared Rathjen made 22 saves for his first WHL shutout as the Vancouver Giants blanked the Everett Silvertips 3-0 at the Pacific Coliseum on Friday night. The G-Men also got goals from Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck in the victory.

The Giants were the stronger team in the opening period, outshooting the 'Tips 14-6. Everett had a pair of power plays in the first but couldn't find the back of the net, and the game remained scoreless through the first 20 minutes.

Trace Elson nearly found the net for Vancouver in the early stages of the second period when a rebound came out to him in front of the net, but Elson couldn't bear down on a bouncing puck and hit the side of the net. Lofthouse opened the scoring and brought the teddy bears raining down when he tipped a Dalton Thrower point shot past Everett goalie Austin Lotz midway through the second period. The goal marked Lofthouse's seventh of the season and third in his last three games.

Kulak extended the Vancouver lead, scoring on an end-to-end rush, at 11:20 of the third period. After the goal, Rathjen made his best save of the evening when he stopped Tyler Sandhu from point blank range, flashing the left pad to keep the puck out. Houck would add an empty netter with less than two minutes remaining to ice the victory for the Giants.

The two teams will face-off again tomorrow night in Everett. Hear the call on TEAM 1410 and http://teamradio.ca. The Pre-Game Show begins at 6:30pm, followed by the face-off at 7 o'clock.

Game Summary

3 Stars:
1. Trent Lofthouse - Vancouver
2. Brett Kulak - Vancouver
3. Joshua Winquist - Everett

Ryobi Hardest Working Player of the Game: Jared Rathjen - Vancouver