Don’t be surprised if you go to Tuesday’s game at CN Centre and find the Vancouver Giants in a foul mood.
That’s not because someone named Jack has stolen their goose that lays the golden eggs. These Giants aren’t thinking about hoarding gold.
Their only concern when they visit Prince George the next two days is to beat the Cougars and gain four points in the WHL standings
The Giants (13-10-1-0, fourth in Western Conference) are coming off consecutive losses to the Victoria Royals on the weekend in a home-and-home series, which extended Vancouver’s losing streak to three games. They had won six straight before they hit Kamloops and lost 7-1 to the Blazers on Wednesday.
On the other side of the rink, there’s plenty of joy in Cougarville.
The Cougars (10-14-0-0, seventh in Western Conference) are coming off a pair of 3-2 wins over the weekend. The beat the Rockets Friday in Kelowna and found Teddy Bear delight on Saturday when they knocked off the first-place Blazers at CN Centre.
The Giants are seven points ahead of the Cougars in the standings and their lineup in loaded with pro prospects. The Giants’ roster includes five players drafted by NHL teams and four of them are expected to be in the lineup when they drop the puck for the opening face-off at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
That starts with Swedish goalie Jesper Vikman, a fifth-round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021. He’s drawn the bulk of the starts in net and sports an 11-5 record with a 3.18 goals-against average, .909 save percentage and two shutouts.
On defence, Alex Cotton, a November trade acquisition from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, has five goals and 10 assists in 13 games since the trade was made Nov. 5. The 19-year-old was a fifth-round selection of the Detroit Red Wings in 2020.
Up front, the Boston Bruins thought highly enough about Swedish right winger Fabian Lysell to chose him in the first round, 21st overall, in the 2021 draft. He’s averaging better than a point per game with 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points in 23 games.
Left winger Zack Ostapchuk, an Ottawa Senators second-round pick in the draft this year, has six goals and 12 points in 19 games. He missed the two games in Prince George in November when he got hurt in practice during their trip north.
That same practice in 100 Mile House sent Giants leading scorer Justin Sourdif to the injury shelf and he won’t be with the team this week either. The 19-year-old centre, a Florida Panthers’ pick in 2020, is in Calgary with Team Canada preparing for the IIHF world junior championship that starts Dec. 26 in Edmonton and Red Deer. Sourdif leads the Giants in scoring with 29 points, including eight goals.
Tuesday’s game (7 p.m. start) will be the fifth of 12 meetings between the teams this season. The Giants will stick around to play the Cats again on Wednesday and they will play each other again Saturday in Langley.
The Giants have won three of the four games against Prince George this season and all have been close. The Cougars lost in Langley 6-4 on Oct. 8 and 3-1 on Nov. 5, then split with the Giants at CN Centre, winning 1-0 on Nov. 9 and losing the rematch 5-3.
The Cougars won’t have the services of goalie Tyler Brennan, who injured his ankle in the third period Friday in Kelowna but are otherwise healthy. Brennan hopes to be ready to play again by the weekend and until then the Cougars will have 17-year-old Ty Young as the backup to Taylor Gauthier. Gauthier is coming oof an impressive 48-save performance in Saturday’s game against Kamloops.
These are the last home games for the Cats until Dec. 28-29, when they host the Everett Silvertips. They’ll also play Friday night in Kamloops.
