It was a far tighter match-up than I expected it would be tonight, as the Oil Kings kept up good puck pressure all night and were quick to loose pucks and tied up the Giants well along the boards. The Giants finally got some shots through from their point men and in the end that was the difference. For the third time in three straight games the Giants allowed the first goal against and were playing from behind. The Oil Kings scored coming out the corner completely unmolested. The Giants tied it up on the PP and added one more. The Oil Kings were not be denied as they tied the game back up, before the Giants were able to make an odd-man rush work for them getting a lead they would not relinquish late in the third. The Giants salted it away with an empty net goal as time expired to end the visitors threat. Not the most intense game, but both teams were actively grinding out space on the ice and checking one another tightly. A testament to the conditioning these players have as they were both playing their third game in three nights, and the Giants were playing their fourth in five nights. Solid effort all-around.

The two teams played to a scoreless first period, matching each other in shots and most likely chances with 11 shots apiece. The first was parade to the penalty box and the Giants squandered more than a few PP chances with slow sloppy passing. The Giants were lucky to not get burned when the Oil Kings were a given a penalty shot, while killing a penalty. Jamie Tucker who probably would like a goal back tonight, stoned their shooter to keep the game at zeroes. A very important stop for him to make, as the Giants did not need to be stung on the man-advantage, confidence-wise. The reffing seemed fairly balanced until the third when the refs decided to pocket the whistles, despite the same kind of infractions that they called in the first. I suppose the teams were feeling each other out in the period, but neither had a lot of room to move, or move the puck for the majority of the game.

The Oil Kings opened the scoring in the second as rookie sniper Michael St Croix came out of the corner unmolested and put the puck through a screened Tucker. Not a great goal to give by my reckoning, either by the team or the ‘tender. The Giants finally got their PP to work when their D-men began to take quicker shots. As I was screaming for Kevin Connauton to take a low wrist-shot he did just that and tickled the twine, beating Torrie Jung low stick-side. Neal Manning, who had a questionable night with a few poor give-aways, and Craig Cunningham got the helpers on the play. The game was still tied going into intermission.

The third was grinding period with loose pucks going end to end as both teams brought an aggressive forecheck and hard work along the boards at both ends of the rink. Mitch Spooner tallied his first WHL career goal ripping another low snap shot from the point, beating Jung low glove-side. The puck had eyes as it threaded its way through traffic and past a screened Jung. Lance Bouma flew to the net to get the puck for Spooner. A couple of minutes later Rhett Rachinski put home a rebound that looked like it might have got through to Tucker, but could have bounced off a defender in front. Regardless the puck was loose and Rachinski made no mistake wheeling and firing it into the open side. Late in the period Ryan Funk, who had one of the better games I have seen him play so far, stripped the puck in the neutral zone, flipping it ahead to James Henry who made a touch pass up to JT Barnett. Barnett returned the favour and Henry picked the top corner above Jung’s glove with a wicked wrister. A bit later with time ticking down the Oil Kings took a goalie interference penalty making the end of the contest a bit more exciting. Pulling their goalie to make it even they kept up good pressure in the Giants end of the ice. Bouma scored one of the nicest empty net goals I have seen, taking a Craig Cunningham feed from the corner and patiently deking and slipping a back-hand past a defender who was playing goal at the side of the net. I appreciated the patience Bouma had on the play. The red light just barely beat the green one as the puck crossed the line. A hard-fought win that could have gone either way, with neither goalie being really stellar, but both of them being fairly solid. The Oil Kings ran over Tucker a few times in the game, trying to get him to react, but he maintained his cool.

The Giants out-shot the Oil Kings 31-21. They went 2 for 6 on the PP, with the empty netter coming on the man-advantage. The Oil Kings were 1 for 6 on the PP, coming into the contest sporting the worst PP in the league at an 11% conversion rate. The Giants came into the game with the best PK in the league at 89.3 and 3 SGF. David Musil played with Funk most of the evening and I think that it was good pairing. The pairing of Funk and Connauton scared the beejeezuz outta me. I personally do not think that Connauton deserved a star, let alone first star and I would instead have given it to Henry.

The Giants have a couple of days off before they have to play again in their annual Remembrance Day game in Chilliwack. The Bruins are learning how to win under coach Mark Habscheid and although their last game versus the Giants was all G-Men I don’t expect the same lop-sided result this time around. The Bruins will be a bit tougher at home and with Gore between the pipes. Chilliwack gutted out a 5-4 OT win versus the Oil Kings in their last game and will want to get revenge for getting shellacked 8-2 at the Coliseum by the Giants. The puck drops On Wednesday November 11th at 2pm PST.

Three Stars

1. Kevin Connauton
2. Mark Pysyk
3. Brendan Gallagher