In a game filled with wild swings, the Vancouver Giants managed to grab the last change of possession.
Craig Cunningham scored the game-winning goal for Vancouver, in overtime, with a shorthanded penalty shot, as the Giants bested the Kelowna Rockets 6-5 in the WHL‘s first regular-season game of 2009-10 on Thursday night. Cunningham also had three assists for the visitors, who had their 2008-09 season end with a loss in Kelowna in the Western Conference championship.
“(Last season) didn‘t end the way we wanted and Kelowna wound up going to the league final and the Memorial Cup, so we had a bit of redemption in our minds,” said Cunningham, who also had three assists. “But it was a sloppy game, as you can tell by a 6-5 score. The puck was kinda bouncing around out there, but give both teams credit for battling to the end.
“We were lucky enough to come up with two points.”
J.T. Barnett, with two goals, Kevin Connauton, Lance Bouma and James Henry also scored for Vancouver (1-0-0-0), which rallied from two deficits, 2-0 and 4-3, in forging the win.
Stepan Novotny, with four goals, and Mitchell Callahan replied for Kelowna (0-0-1-0), which was outshot 40-28. Callahan also had two assists, while Tyson Barrie, Shane McColgan and Kyle St. Denis also reached the scoresheet with helpers.
Adam Brown made 34 saves for the Rockets, who visit the Tri-City Americans on Saturday night, while Jamie Tucker turned aside 23 shots for the Giants, who play host to the Everett Silvertips the same evening.
For Kelowna, the loss was stinging – the home team built up two leads, including Novotny scoring twice in the game‘s first 10 minutes, only to squander them.
“(Scoring four goals) feels good right now,” said Novotny, who‘s on pace for 288 goals. “But we‘ll see how that keeps going . . . my role on the team this season is to put pucks into the back of the net, and it‘s satisfying when you (do that).
“But, at the same time, if we don‘t win the game, it doesn‘t really matter.” Top of Page
