Giants end Chilliwack's winning ways

Playing their third game in three nights, and fourth in five, the surging Chilliwack Bruins ran out of gas Sunday night in Vancouver, dropping an 8-2 decision to the Giants at the Pacific Coliseum. The Bruins saw a modest three-game winning streak come to an end against the B.C. division leading Giants, who got two goals from Lane Scheidl and singles from six other players in the win.

Vancouver took just one minute and 38 seconds to open the scoring in this one on a goal by Scheidl. Vancouver defenceman David Musil put a wrist shot on net, and the 17-year-old rookie re-directed the puck past Chilliwack netminder Mark Friesen for his first Western Hockey League goal.

After handing out seven minor penalties in the opening frame, referee Andy Thiessen probably had to slap an ice pack on his right arm when the period was done. The Giants ran into plenty of penalty trouble early, and had to rely on their top-ranked PK unit to bail them out.

When Craig Cunningham (hooking) and Ryan Funk (cross-checking) were assessed minors 14 seconds part, the Bruins were handed a two man advantage for one minute and 46 seconds. But the Giants have killed penalties at an 89.3 per cent success rate, and they snuffed out the Chilliwack power play without breaking a sweat.

The Bruins PK unit, now ranked 12th in the league at 78.9 per cent efficiency, faced three Vancouver power plays in the first period, escaping unscathed.

Shots on goal in the first period were 9-4 in favour of the Giants.

A pair of Vancouver goals early in period two put the Bruins in a hole that was too deep to dig their way out of.

J.T. Barnett notched his 12th of the season two minutes in to put Vancouver up 2-0, and Cass Mappin added to the lead three minutes later. Mappin’s goal came on a nifty rush down the right wing, followed by a lateral cut across the Chilliwack goal crease. Friesen made the first save, but couldn’t control the rebound. Mappin grabbed the loose puck, wiring it home for his fourth of the season.

The Bruins struggled to generate any shots on the Vancouver net, and had no luck when they did get a puck on goal. The Bruins thought they had a goal midway through the period when Alexander Wiklund pushed the puck across the goal-line during a goal-mouth scramble. But the referees didn’t feel the need to consult instant replay, and play resumed with the Bruins still trailing by three.

The Giants almost added to their lead late in the period. Lance Bouma was thwarted on a short-handed breakaway, but thanks to a Jesse Pauls hook, the veteran was awarded a penalty shot. Friesen made the save to keep Chilliwack’s fading comeback hopes alive.

Shots on goal in the second period were 14-7 in favour of Vancouver.

Chilliwack’s comeback hopes took a near-fatal hit 1:04 into period three on a goal by Slovakian sniper Milan Kytnar. Bouma was the playmaker, feeding Kytnar in front. The ex-Kelowna Rocket and Saskatoon Blade notched his second of the season, pushing Vancouver’s lead to 4-0.

The Bruins got that one back just 53 seconds later on a goal by Ryan Howse. The Calgary Flames prospect finished off a bang-bang play with Czech centre Roman Horak, firing his team-leading 12th of the season past Vancouver netminder Jamie Tucker.

The Giants continued to come in waves and put the win away with a pair of quick goals 37 seconds apart. At 3:50, Mitch McColm coughed up the puck to Brendan Gallagher at his own blueline. Gallagher swooped in with a forehand-backhand move, beating Friesen top shelf for his ninth of the season.

Before the Bruins could blink, Swedish rookie Sebastian Svendsen was bulldozing Friesen and the puck into the net football style, grabbing his second of the season to make the score 6-1.

Brandon Manning scored midway through the final frame, but that was it for the Bruins.

Cunningham and Scheidl scored late in the game to wrap up the scoring as the Bruins suffered just their second regulation-time loss over their last dozen outings. Chilliwack’s record now sits at 7-7-1-3 heading into a Wednesday night road game versus the Spokane Chiefs. The next home game is Saturday night at 7 p.m. when the Bruins play host to the Edmonton Oil Kings.