The Vancouver Giants spent little time killing penalties during the second period of their 6-0 loss at the Art Hauser Centre on Wednesday, but for all the wrong reasons.
The Giants gifted the hometown Prince Albert Raiders six power play chances including what could have been a lengthy two-man advantage in the second had the Raiders not hastened the return to five-on-five action with a flurry of power play goals.
The four-goal second period broke open a scoreless tie after a tight opening frame, and gave Prince Albert their fourth straight win.
“I thought our puck pace on our power play was exceptional (as was) our work in the face-off circle,” head coach Ryan McDonald said after the game. “We started with the puck every single time. When you can start with possession and start to build, that’s a tremendous thing….
“Our entry and our transition, whether it was from a break-out or from a quick regroup, had a lot of pace to it. We were able to beat guys and find lanes and get pucks in, and (get) two really big five-on-three goals.”
The Raider power play didn’t just strike often, it also struck quickly. A big part of that was due to captain Justice Christensen, who had a pair of nearly identical power play goals just 23 seconds apart.
On both occasions, Raiders defenceman Daxon Rudolph drew a Giants penalty killer off to the side before firing a cross-ice pass to Christensen for a one-timer.
“Any time you can give it to him (Christensen) with some open space it’s probably going in the net,” Rudolph said. “Props to him for having such a great shot.”
“I think (we were) just kind of reading off what (the Giants) give us and having some set plays and motion that we want to use,” Christensen added. “Dax is a really good player and he’s able to find the seams and open ice the players have. Both plays were good passes so I was happy to capitalize.”
Christensen’s two goals came after some undisciplined play from the visitors. With Tyus Sparks already in the penalty box, Giants forward Ty Halaburda received a roughing penalty for driving Ollie Chenier face-first into the glass. While Chenier struggled to get to his feet, Vancouver’s Torretto Marrelli raced into the corner and tackled Raiders forward Jonah Sivertson, earning the Giants a second penalty on the play.
Christensen said the Raiders knew they had a five-on-three opportunity coming up if they could keep their cool and not get drawn into any extra altercations.
“There’s a time and a place for that (a brawl),” he said. “In that situation it was good that we stayed out of it and got the full two minutes and the five-on-three and it was good to capitalize twice. They didn’t really have much after that.”
McDonald said he liked how the Raiders rushed in to defend Chenier without taking any additional penalties.
“It’s playing the game within the game,” he said. “Chens takes a bit of a shot and our guys are right there for the moment and they come in and give another shot and put us on a lengthy five-on-three.”
Max Heise nabbed a third power play goal on another one-timer after Vancouver’s Adam Titlebach received a double-minor for high sticking. In total, the Raiders outshot the Giants 18-2 in the second period, and scored four goals, three coming on the man advantage.
The Raiders were forced to kill only two penalties. They marked two of the few occasions were Prince Albert goaltender Michal Orsulak faced any sustained pressure.
The Giants managed only 14 shots on the night, and Orsulak recorded his first WHL shutout. McDonald credited the Raiders netminder for staying focused during a game where he faced long periods of inactivity.
“Orsy made some big saves when he was called upon,” McDonald said. “The biggest thing (is he) kept himself in the game with not a lot of workload.
“Give our guys a lot of credit. I thought our slide and our transition to kill pucks on a track, whether it was the forwards coming back and killing exits from on top, or the D doing a tremendous job sliding with good sticks, it really frustrated them trying to get across the blueline.”
At the other end of the ice, Owen Lunneborg made his first WHL start in the Giants crease. The Shakopee, Minnesota product was pelted with 42 shots on the night, including 18 in the second period alone.
Sivertson, Ben Harvey, and Alisher Sarkenov had the other goals for Prince Albert. Sarkenov’s first period goal stood up as the game winner. It also marked the Astana, Kazakhstan product’s first WHL tally.
The Raiders are back in action on Friday when they face the Kamloops Blazers at the Art Hauser Centre. Prince Albert is the first stop on the Blazers’ six-game eastern road trip. They opened the season with three straight wins, but lost their last two to Seattle (7-4) and Portland (6-4).
“We know they’re a good team,” Rudolph said when asked about the Blazers. “We’ll go over video with them in the next couple of days here. I think we played really well tonight, so (we’ll) just try and keep building after every game.”
Puck drop is 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
