Home ice run gives Giants confidence boost heading into Game 3 against Everett

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Center Kailen Gronick insists the Vancouver Giants “trust ourselves more on home ice.”

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During the regular season, the Giants had an overall mediocre performance at the Langley Events Center, posting a 19-12-3-0 home record, the 14th-best home record in the 22-team WHL. However, there was an amazing period of time. This is a 13-game point streak (12 wins, 0 losses, 1 loss, 0 draws) that occurred between January 3 and March 15.

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That’s the point Gronick is making, and if Vancouver can get back to that form and feel, it will have a better chance of beating the Everett Silvertips in the first round of the playoffs.

The third-seeded Silvertips (45-18-2, 3-0) and the sixth-seeded Giants (32-32, 4-0) will play in the LEC on Wednesday, tied at 1-1 in the best-of. I’m trying to get out of the situation. 7 sets of postseason. Game 4 will be played on Friday in the LEC.

“It gives us confidence. I think the (second half) record shows that,” Gronick said of his play at Langley. “These are huge games. These are the games you want to play. We hope we can maintain that record here.

“We got counted out. We shouldn’t be tied 1-1 with them, but we don’t see it and we don’t listen to it. We come to play hockey games. We strive to win, and we feed off of each other.”

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Vancouver played Everett in Game 1 on Friday, winning 6-4 thanks to two goals from rookie winger Cameron Schmidt. Everett recorded a 2-1 victory in Game 2 at home on Saturday behind two goals from forward Austin Roast.

Vancouver and Everett tied 1-1 in the first round heading into Game 3 at Langley two years ago. The Silvertips won 6-2, but went on to lose the next three games and were eliminated in the series.

In this year’s regular season, there were 27 points between the Silvertips and Giants, but in the playoffs two years ago, first-place Everett (45-13-5, 5-0) and eighth-place Vancouver (24-39) It was between 5 minutes and a loss. 0), those clubs had a 47 point difference. It was the first time since the WHL entered the 16-team playoffs in 2002 that a No. 8 team has defeated a No. 1 team.

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The longer this series lasts, the more people will talk about it.

“We’re confident. There’s no doubt in our team. We love each other and we’re fighting for each other,” Gronick said.

Taking an early lead Wednesday appears to be a top priority for both teams. At the end of the first period of the regular season, Everett led with 28 wins, 2 losses, 0 draws, and 1 loss. Only the Portland Winterhawks (38-4-3) had more wins in that regard. When Vancouver led by one point, it was 21-3, 0-0. Only nine teams in the league achieved 20 or more wins in this category.

Vancouver got a breakaway goal from Schmidt just 43 seconds into Game 1 and held a 4-2 lead at the end of Game 1. In Game 2, Roast scored the only goal of the first period.

“The start in Game 1 was unbelievable and that led to the win,” Vancouver winger Ty Halabada said. “We’re off to a huge start.”

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Everett comes into this series on a 12-game points streak (10-0, 1-0) and is 3-1-0 against the Giants this season. The teams last met on February 3rd, with Vancouver winning 4-3 against LEC.

This was part of Vancouver’s aforementioned home-ice winning streak that led the Giants from eighth place in the West and competing for the final playoff spot to fourth place and challenging for the league Jan. 3-March. It was also part of a rapid rise to 16 wins, 6 losses, 2 minutes, 0 seconds until the 3rd. In the first round, they had home ice advantage. Vancouver went 3-5-0-0 over the last three weeks of league play. They still had a chance to finish fourth heading into the final weekend, but lost 6-2 at home to the Kelowna Rockets on Friday and 5-2 in Kelowna on Saturday.

Vancouver’s second half was dominated by Gronick’s return from a long-term injury (he returned in late January after a two-month absence), winger Samuel Honzek’s return from competing in the World Juniors, and Connor Reavis (Kamloops Blazers). Gained momentum with the addition. Tyson Zimmer (Lethbridge Hurricanes) ahead of the January 10th trade deadline

The Silvertips and Bowling Green State University Falcons released a statement last Wednesday announcing that Everett coach Dennis Williams will lead the Falcons’ coaching staff following the conclusion of the WHL playoffs. He is in his seventh season in Everett and was named GM of the Silvertips ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Williams is a Bowling Green graduate who played at Bowling Green at the same time as former Vancouver Canuck Kevin Bieksa.

sewen@postmedia.com

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