It was more of a finger painting than a Picasso oil painting, but a depleted Vancouver Giants squad will take the 鈥榃.鈥�
Missing four key defenceman (Dylan Plouffe, Darian Skeoch, Matt Barberis, and Alex Kannok Leipert), hard-working left winger Owen Hardy and highly skilled import forward Milos Roman from their lineup, the Giants eked out a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings in front of 3,484 fans Friday night at the 91原创 Events Centre.
鈥淎t this time of year, there鈥檚 no grades, it鈥檚 finding ways,鈥� Giants head coach Jason McKee said. 鈥淕uys are tired and we鈥檝e got two more (games) to go (this weekend). It鈥檚 just finding ways to grind things out and that鈥檚 how we evaluate. If we get two points at the end of the night, we鈥檒l take it with the situation we鈥檙e in.鈥�
The G-Men knew going in they would be in for a dogfight.
Even though the Oil Kings came into the LEC with just 17 wins in 56 games and were tied with the Calgary Hitmen for the fewest points in the entire Western Hockey League, they were riding a three-game win streak, and had upset B.C. Division-powerhouse Victoria Royals 7-6 in a shootout Wednesday in Victoria.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e better than their record,鈥� McKee said, regarding the Oil Kings. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e healthy now, more than they鈥檝e been and they鈥檝e obviously been on a pretty good role lately and have beaten some pretty good teams. We knew we would have our hands full. There鈥檚 no easy nights and they (the Oil Kings) are a better team than when they started the year and they showed that tonight. They pushed us right to the end.鈥�
And a fight it was, with the visitors outshooting the G-Men 14-2 in the third period and 31-23 overall.
Giants goaltender David Tendeck was a big reason why the Giants came away with their 31st victory of the campaign.
McKee praised his 18-year-old puckstopper.
鈥淗e鈥檚 definitely been a difference-maker all year,鈥� McKee said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the evolution of a starting goalie. I think he earned his spot last year and this year he鈥檚 become a starter and that鈥檚 what you need.鈥�
The Giants looked the part of the favourite early on.
It took the home team all of 14 seconds to open the scoring, with captain Tyler Benson sweeping his 20th of the season past Edmonton goalie Josh Dechaine.
GOOOOOOOALLLLLL!!!!! scores 14 seconds into the game!!! 1-0 Giants!!
鈥� Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants)
Benson was in on the Giants鈥� second goal, scored fewer than two minutes later, when Brayden Watts cashed in on a Vancouver power play and it looked like the Giants were on their way.
But the Oil Kings wouldn鈥檛 go away, and Edmonton鈥檚 Brett Kemp struck 1:05 into the second period on a power play, knocking in a rebound off a Connor McDonald shot that handcuffed Tendeck.
The second period was a slugfest with the Oil Kings dishing out the brunt of the hitting.
The middle frame also included a spirited tilt involving the Giants鈥� Hunor Torzsok and Oil Kings鈥� Davis Murray.
The two dropped their gloves and squared off at centre ice like a couple of gunslingers. Torzsok tried a 鈥楽uperman punch鈥� that missed its mark before the two combatants grabbed each other鈥檚 jerseys and went Rock 鈥楨m Sock 鈥楨m Robots on each other before they fell to the ice.
A classy start to the game, as Giants alum Evander Kane congratulated Giants winger Ty Ronning on breaking his franchise record for goals in a season (48). Kane, a fixture on the Buffalo Sabres top six forward group, was shown on the overhead centre-ice jumbotron applauding Ronning on his accomplishment.
Ronning, who is up to 51 goals and had 15 tallies in his past 12 games before Friday, was held off the scoresheet on this night.
This is the start of a brutal weekend, scheduling-wise, for the Giants who are still a long way away from getting completely healthy.
They ferry over to Victoria to play the Royals tomorrow night (Feb. 18) and return to the LEC Sunday afternoon for a 4 p.m. contest against the visiting Red Deer Rebels.
