The Giants scored two in the first to gain an upper-hand in the game. Usually this kind of lead would insurmountable for Giants teams of old, but this years squad have had a very hard time holding onto to leads, allowing even large leads to slip late in the game. This was yet another one of those outings as the Giants did not bring intense puck-pressure and did not hound the Winterhawks relentlessly as they need to do, but instead gave them room to make plays taking bad penalties as poor times. This resulted in allowing a very good team off the mat, where they should have stayed pinned with continued pressure, and a chance to get back into the game. Mac Carruth for the Winterhawks held his team in there making some solid stops and a few robberies, giving his team the chance to right their ship. The Winterhawks scored four unanswered goals before the Giants managed to squeeze another puck past Carruth. The come-back was too little too late and the Giants let yet another game slip to a US division opponent.

Craig Cunningham padded his league leading stats early in the game, assisted by Brendan Gallagher and JT Barnett. Milan Kytnar scored his 5th of the season a few minutes later on the PP. Tomas Vincour and Neil Manning got the helpers. They held that lead until just past the mid-way mark of the second, when Nino Neiderreitter solved Mark Segal who was very solid on the night, but not game stealing good. A very bad change while on the PK in third resulted in the Giants opening a 5 on 3 door for a team renown for their puck movement and scoring prowess. With the additional ice given to them the ‘hawks put on some serious pressure in the Giants end of the ice, finally bulging the twine. A two minute team (mental and effort) lapse in the third sealed the deal as the Winterhawks scored two quick ones to take a 4-2 lead. A late goal by Gallagher, assisted by Lance Bouma and Cunningham was not enough to get back the game and the Giants took a scrambly loss, simply by losing focus for a span of 5 minutes in the third. The Portland squad is a team capable of these kinds of turnarounds and had the G’s maintained their focus and kept up the puck pressure, cutting off the Winterhawks open ice they should have come out with at least a point if not the win.

The Winterhawks out shot the Giants 44-39. The Giants went 1 for 6 on the PP, while holding the Winterhawks to 1 for 8. The G’s PK is still very good, but they have needed to use it a bit too much this season and justified or not they need to find a way to remove the bad penalties from their game.

The Portland squad had some very timely goaltending when they needed it and worked hard to get back into the game, given that opportunity. The Giants lost focus for a very short time in the third and found themselves looking at the wrong end of the score very quickly, something that has happened far too many times for my liking this season. They get away with it against weak teams, but their loss of focus has let too many games they had handily in control to slip through their grasp this season. This is a part of their game they need to shore up come playoff time and with the current roster they are capable of doing it night after night. Its not about systems anymore, its about the guys on the team committing to playing intense focused hockey for the full sixty minutes. Their goaltending has been decent, but not brilliant, but that too has room to grow and improve. A little confidence goes a long way and the Giants need to find some swagger.

The Giants have a few days off to fully get players like Kytnar and Wright reintegrated into the line-up with some practice days, which you know Don Hay is going to make intense. They have a ‘home ice’ run in Langley the next few games and need to forge chemistry with an even stronger work ethic and develop a bit of team confidence during this time. Its not like this season has been a wash by any stretch, but expectations are deservedly high and the boys need to live up to that if they hope to compete head-to-head with some of these very strong teams throughout the league.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes come to Langley on Wednesday. The puck drops at 7pm at the LEC. Single seats are available, with more than a few blocks of seats not being occupied, so my advice is to buy the cheapest seats at the door and upgrade yourself at the game when you see the sea of empty seats available. And for companies that have bought the STH Langley package, but have no intention of going, please donate those seats to charities or make them available to fans. The team deserves to have a full house.

Three Stars

1. Chris Francis
2. Nino Neiderreitter
3. Mark Segal