Storylines To Watch

Vancouver

-Whose crease is it?

Giants goaltenders David Tendeck and Trent Miner split the goaltending duties in round one with both earning two wins in three games against Seattle. Vancouver has been running a 1A and 1B style of rotation for the two netminders with Tendeck getting into 38 games, earning a 24-10-2-1 record with a 2.48 GAA, a .911 save percentage and four shutouts. Miner, 17-years-old, got into 32 games compiling a record of 24-5-1-1 with a 1.98 GAA, a .924 save percentage and three shutouts.

-Need the penalty kill back

The second ranked penalty kill in the regular season had a tough first round series, with a success rate of just 75%, which sits 12th out of the 16 playoff teams. The penalty kill sat at an 84.9% success rate over the 68 game season, only behind Prince Albert, who had exactly 2% success with 86.9%. The Giants’ penalty killing unit needs to get back where it was in the regular season against a Royals team that has had a hard time getting the power play to click all season, sitting in 21st out of 22 with a 15.9% to go with a slightly better 23.1% in playoffs, good enough for eighth in the playoffs.

Victoria

New Heroes

– In the absence of regular season leading scoring Kaid Oliver (injury) and later Kody McDonald (suspension), forwards the likes Schultz, Dino Kambeitz, Carson Miller and Brandon Culter filled the void in round one. Victoria needs these players to continue to provide timely goals to help power the offence.

Brickhouse

– Griffen Outhouse played every minute of round one for Victoria and looks to be locked-in. While he made many game-saving stops in the opening round, the netminder was not called upon to stand on his head and steal a game. Outhouse is very capable on putting on an unreal performance at any time and may still have his best game to come in these playoffs.

Injuries-

Royals fans know all to well how injuries can decimate a playoff run. Round one had it’s share of injuries, with Mitchell Prowse, Jameson Murray, Tarun Fizer, Jake Kustra, and Matthew Smith all missing some action. It was no coincidence that Victoria was finally able to win back-to-back games to end the series with

Kamloops once Prowse returned to duty for those games. The native of Kelowna BC was a plus-five in three games played in round one. Overall, Victoria looks to be healthy for round two, which is surprising after the physical battle versus Kamloops.

How They Match Up

Vancouver: The Giants have a very complete game as a team – a big part of their success this season. They sat top four in both special teams, as well as allowed the third least amount of goals in the WHL. Byram, Alex Kannok-Leipert, and Plouffe have led one of the best defences in the league and will be counted on to continue their success throughout this second round match up. The offense was buzzing the whole series against Seattle, only scoring less than three goals in a game once. The Giants will also be looking to get back one of the best freshmen in the WHL this past season in Justin Sourdif. The Surrey, B.C. native missed five of the six first round games due to an undisclosed injury as a result of a cross check from Jake Lee, who was suspended two games for the incident. Sourdif had 23 goals and 23 assists, the most out of all the 16-year-olds in the league.

Victoria: Victoria plays a fundamental game and when executed they have success. Playing smart with the puck, forcing turnovers and converting on the power play leads to positive results for the Royals. The club’s commitment is never in doubt and their coaching staff always have them ready to play a full 60 minutes. Head coach Dan Price tends to go with the hot hand, so any player contributing offensively while still

playing their defensive part will get the ice-time.