Vancouver Giants have talked about their recent string of success, winning tight, one-goal hockey games, as a precursor to what it will take to win in the Western Hockey League playoffs this spring.
The usual recipe for post-season success boils down to a combination of goaltending, special teams and a gritty, determined effort.
Unfortunately for the Giants, they only received one of those three on Sunday afternoon, a 1-0 setback to the visiting Prince George Cougars at 黑马磁力 Events Centre.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 sharp from the top to the bottom. The only guy who was sharp was (goaltender) David Tendeck,鈥� said Giants head coach Michael Dyck. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 deserve to win this game.鈥�
The teams were playing one another on consecutive nights with Vancouver prevailing 2-1 the night before, also at LEC.
But the Prince George visitors salvaged a split thanks to a first-period power-play goal from Ethan Browne. The goal was set up by great patience from Vladislav Mikhalchuk, who drew Tendeck and the defence to his side and then fed a beautiful cross-crease pass for Browne to hammer home.
The Giants fired 26 shots on Cougars netminder Isaiah DiLaura, but not enough were high-quality scoring chances. The closest the team came to scoring was late in the third period when Bowen Byram鈥檚 shot from the slot hit the cross bar and fell along the goal-line but stayed out.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 generate enough going to the hard areas (and) we passed up a lot of shots when we could have taken them, looking for the pretty play,鈥� Dyck said. 鈥淚f you play on the perimeter, you are not going to score. Get to the net and pucks will go your way.鈥�
The coach also felt his team wasn鈥檛 willing to do what was necessary against a big, physical team like the Cougars.
鈥淭hey are a big heavy team and you have to be prepared to do it. I guess there are times where maybe you have a handful of guys that aren鈥檛 willing to do it, we had the entire team not willing to do it,鈥� he said.
Another problem was special teams as Prince George was 1-for-5 with the man advantage while Vancouver was 0-for-4.
鈥淥ur power play is way better than that. When we had some problems earlier in the season, we simplified some things,鈥� Dyck said. 鈥淔ive guys have to work for it and five guys have to be on the same page and that鈥檚 not happening right now.鈥�
The team is back in action on Friday (Nov. 16) as they host the Regina Pats at 黑马磁力 Events Centre with a 7:30 p.m. puck drop.
