The Vancouver Giants were a frustrated lot on Thursday , their emotions and offence having been boxed in.
Mark Guggenberger hopes his Kelowna Rockets can box in – and further frustrate – the Giants again.
The Western Conference championship series between Kelowna and Vancouver resumes this evening with Game 5 at the Pacific Coliseum. The best-of-seven series is tied 2-2 after the Rockets steamrolled the Giants 3-0 in Game 4 at Prospera Place on Thursday evening.
“The team worked pretty hard tonight, and (the Giants) didn‘t get a whole lot accomplished in our end,” said Guggenberger, who had an easy night in goal for Kelowna, facing just 14 shots for his first playoff shutout. Yet, while the Rockets‘ stopper played well, the key to Kelowna‘s victory was boxing out Vancouver‘s offence.
Not only did the Rockets limit the Giants to just 14 shots, but Vancouver only registered six over the final 40 minutes.
“We played a full 60 minutes, and that was a huge part,” continued Guggenberger, whose team outshot the Giants 34-14. “Any-time you can dominate the second half of a game, it‘s always a plus. But we have to try and keep an even keel, and, hopefully, we can put in the same effort in Vancouver.”
“Our defencemen were really good at limiting them or keeping their shots to the outside,” said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska, whose team also drove Vancouver‘s net well. “That‘s an issue we had a few games before: Our forwards weren‘t hungry enough to score goals, and we were a little bit better, but there‘s still room for improvement.”
Rockets defenceman Tyler Myers had a solid game for the home team, especially in Kelowna‘s zone, where the 6-foot-8 blue-liner played an important part in clearing bodies away from Guggenberger.
“We had a long practice (Wednesday) on boxing people out in front,” said Myers. “We really took it to heart, and we really took it into the game. Our overall work ethic was really good, and we want to continue that in Game 5.”
Tonight‘s contest is obviously pivotal, with one team moving within one win of advancing. For the Giants, this scenario isn‘t new to them.
“All the credit goes to them because they came in (Thursday) with their backs against the wall,” Giants goaltender Tyson Sexsmith said after his 31-save effort in Game 4. “You go down 3-1 in a series, that‘s not looking so good, but 2-2, you‘re right back in it. They came in knowing what they had to do, and they were able to do it.
“But we‘ve been in this situation before. In Spokane, we went down there up 2-0 and came back 2-2. So, as I said, we‘ve been in this situation before. We can‘t panic, and our experience has to try to lead us through it.”
In Games 1 and 2 at Vancouver, the Rockets earned a split, winning the opener 4-2, but losing the next night, 4-3 in overtime. With Vancouver also playing host to Game 7, if needed, it appears the Giants have home-ice advantage. However, the Rockets enter the Pacific Coliseum knowing they played well in Game 1, and not so well in Game 2 yet lost in overtime.
“We‘ve got two of the next three in our building, so we have to be excited about that,” Giants head coach Don Hay told The Province. “We have to be excited about coming in and getting a split and getting it down to a best-of-three. We‘re excited about the opportunity to get to Game 5.”
Said Huska: “We‘re going to need a similar style that we just had (in Game 4) for Game 5. We have to expect them to come out much harder, with a much grittier effort. And we have to be ready for that.” Top of Page
