Vancouver Giants lost 6-2 to the Kelowna Rockets on Friday night, March 22, at the Langley Events Centre, setting up a do-or-die battle for fifth place tonight in Kelowna in the regular season finale.
With just one game to go, the Rockets now have a one point lead on the Giants for fifth place in the Western Conference standings, meaning whoever wins on Saturday will finish fifth and face the Wenatchee Wild in the first round of the playoffs. Whoever loses will finish in sixth and face the Everett Silvertips.
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Cameron Schmidt and Tyson Zimmer scored for the Giants.
The Rockets top line of Andrew Cristall, Gabriel Szturc and Max Graham combined for 11 points in the win, with Szturc scoring twice and Cristall and Graham each scoring once. Kayden Longley and Caden Price had the other tallies for Kelowna.
Head Coach Manny Viveiros said the Giants “just need to be a little bit better in certain areas and that starts with puck battles, on the wall, going to the inside, staying connected as a group here. And if we do that, we’re going to be absolutely fine. There’s no secret formula to it, it’s just hard work.”
“All the credit to Kelowna” Viveiros said. “They came in with a game plan, and executed, and beat us.”
READ ALSO: Vancouver Giants move up in standings after road trip against Blazers
Giants close out their regular season Saturday night, March 23, on the road in Kelowna at 7:05 p.m. Any sort of win (regulation or overtime) will result in them hopping Kelowna for fifth because the first tiebreaker after points is wins.
Playoff tickets for the first round will go on sale to the general public on Monday, March 25 at 10 a.m.