Trent Miner has been digging up gold all season for the Vancouver Giants and he continued strike the goaltending motherload Monday night in Kamloops, much to the chagrin of the Prince George Cougars.
Miner has been in a productive groove all season and against the Cougars he was nearly flawless, making 33 saves to preserve a 2-1 victory that catapulted the Giants into first place in the B.C. Division
The 20-year-old Colorado Avalanche draft pick from Brandon, Man., was a constant thorn in the side of the Cougars and continues to lead the WHL with a 1.18 goals-against average and .952 save percentage. He improved his record to 5-2.
Eric Florchuk and Adam Hall were the triggermen for the Giants. Riley Heidt, with his second goal and fifth point, replied for the Cougars.
Hall scored the game-winner 8:30 into the third period, taking advantage of turnover in the Cougar end when Tristan Nielsen got his stick on a clearing pass attempt from Cats defenceman Ethan Samson. Justin Sourdif took possession and got the puck back to Nielsen on the side boards just as Prince George winger Jonny Hooker fell. That left Hall wide open and he skated in a blasted his fifth goal of the season in behind Taylor Gauthier.
The Giants scored first, 17:33 into the game. Zack Ostapchuk centered the puck from the left side into the slot and it ticked off the skate of Giants winger Justin Lies and the rebound kicked off Gauthier out to Florchuk, who hammered the puck into the net for his third goal of the season.
It was a goaltending show in the second period and the Cougars had some great chances in front of Miner, who was coming off a 27-save shutout Sunday in a 4-0 win over the Kamloops Blazers. Miner made a dazzling stop 13 minutes into the period to deny Craig Armstrong, looking for his sixth goal in the past three games against the Giants, and kept Hooker off the scoresheet with back-to-back saves shortly after.
Gauthier did his part to keep the Giants from adding to the total in the last minute of the period, twice getting in the way of point-blank shots from Julian Cull, followed by a standup save of a labeled point shot from Mazden Leslie. With Tyler Brennan joining Team Canada for the IIHF World U-18 Hockey Championship, the 20-year-old Gauthier will be getting the bulk of the Cougars’ goaltending load for the rest of the season.
The Cougars got the break they were looking for to tie the game 1-1 less than two minutes into the third period. Kyren Gronick was standing just outside the blueline tapping his stick with nothing but open ice ahead of him when the Giants defence was caught on a line change, but Heidt, didn’t see him and took the puck deep into the Vancouver end. The 16-year-old rookie got around Prince George native Jacob Gendron and centred the puck from behind the goal line and it ticked into the net off the leg of Giants defenceman Leslie. Hudson Thornton drew the assist, the third point in three games against Vancouver for the rookie defenceman.
Gauthier kept the Cats close during a late-game surge by the Giants and saved a sure-goal in the final minute when he had to reverse gears suddenly while heading to the bench for the extra skater just as the Cougars turned the puck over. Hall took a long shot at the open net but Gauthier dove just in time to deflect the puck away.
The Cougars won a few key faceoffs with Gauthier parked on the bench and got shots through to Miner but he was equal to the task. Prince George outshot Vancouver 34-27.
The Cougars came into the game having earned five of a possible six points in the three previous games against Vancouver this season, including a 1-0 shootout loss to the Giants. Each team now has two wins in the season series.
The Giants (8-3-0-0) leapfrogged the Kamloops Blazers into first place in the B.C. Division, with the Blazers still holding two games in hand over Vancouver. The Cougars (4-5-0-0) remain third in the division, six points behind Vancouver. The Cats will be back in action Thursday at Sandman Centre in Kamloops to face the Blazers, who host Kelowna on Tuesday.
PANDEMIC CANCELS WHL PLAYOFFS
The WHL announced Monday there will be no league playoffs this season due to the pandemic resurgence and the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 virus. Travel restrictions remain in place and the league decided not to risk the health of the teams and scrapped a plan to bring the division champs together for a playoff tournament.
“When we returned to play in February, we set out with the intention of completing a 24-game regular season schedule, knowing adjustments would be needed along the way,” said WHL commissioner Ron Robison, on the league website. “We remained hopeful that public health conditions would improve, but unfortunately that is not the reality we see in front of us today. The ongoing challenges with non-essential interprovincial and international cross-border travel leave us no alternative but to cancel the 2021 WHL playoffs.”
The five B.C. Division teams will play for the RE/MAX Cup, awarded to the team with the most points following the 24-game season. The league also announced the WHL awards will recognize the top players in each of the four divisions rather than the traditional conference-based award winners.
