Wheat Kings Strike in the 3rd, Hand Giants 5th Straight Loss

VANCOUVER, BC – Brandon broke open a 1-1 tie early in the 3rd with a pair of power play goals 1:18 apart and hung on for a 3-2 victory Wednesday night in front of 5,527 fans at the Pacific Coliseum.

For the second straight game but only the third time this season, the Giants opened the scoring. Jackson Houck beat Corbin Boes, and Marek Tvrdon picked up the assist, extending the points streak for both players to 6 games.

The Giants maintained that 1-0 lead for the first half of the game until 12:18 of the 2nd period, when Nick Buonassisi was able to beat Payton Lee (who started his first game of the season with the Giants after being called up from Richmond of the PJHL) with a wrist shot through a screen, tying the game 1. The Wheat Kings were able to build momentum from the equalizer and pushed the Giants for the remainder of the period, but Payton Lee was solid in the crease in turning everything aside, keeping the game tied heading into the 3rd.

But early in the 3rd, the Wheat Kings took advantage of a pair of power plays. They took their first lead at 3:42, as Buonassisi became the beneficiary of a lucky puck bounce, burying his 2nd goal of the game past a stunned Lee. The Giants took another penalty just 19 seconds later, and another lucky bounce off a defenseman led to another Brandon goal. Tim McGauley had the puck come to him in the slot and rifled one past Lee at the 5:00 mark to open up a 3-1 Wheat Kings lead, marking the 4th straight game the Giants have surrendered 2 power play goals.

As the case all season long, the Giants didn’t give up. They came on once again, and used a late power play to get back within one, when Brett Kulak found a loose puck in the slot and snapped it through Boes to cut the deficit to 3-2.

The Giants had a great opportunity to tie it in the last 25 seconds, when Tyler Yaworski got a 5 minute major and a game misconduct for a hit to the head on Cain Franson, who was able to bounce back up.

With the goalie pulled, the Giants had a 6 on 4 power play but were unable to find the equalizer.