Jordan Martinook completed a Gordie Howe “hat trick” on the night that “Mr. Hockey” himself was honoured by the Giants.
All 8,115 fans welcomed Gordie Howe in which the game featured the BC Division leading Blazers go down to defeat.
The Giants hammered seven goals on the night which saw Martinook manage a three point night with a pair of goals and an assist.
He completed the “hat trick” with a fight taking on Brady Gaudet which saw the club ran it’s winning streak to two games against the top two teams in the Western Conference.
This only helps build confidence as they head into a stretch of 7 games in 13 days, which include five on the road and two on home ice.
Vancouver lead 3-1 after the opening period scoring 56 seconds in which saw Vetterl beat Cheveldave with assists going to Franson and Kulak.
They popped in another while on the PP at 3:53 as Kulak beat Cheveldave with a mere 2 seconds left the Kamloops Minor.
Burns added to the lead at 7:17 converting a wrap around again beating Cheveldave giving assists to Martinook and Vannieuwenhuizen.
The Blazers had several great close-in chances only to be stopped by Adam Morrison who managed huge saves to preserve the lead.
Kamloops showed why they are #1 as they peppered shots at Morrison which eventually paid dividends seeing them score shorthanded as Willick finally beat Morrison with 6:51 left in the 1st. Mashmeyer and Blazer’s “tender” Cheveldave drew assists cutting lead to 3-1.
At intermission shots were 12 – 12.
The second saw Colin Smith cut the lead to 3-2 a short 1:32 in with assists going to Mashmeyer (second of the night) and Bozon.
They tied the game at three (3) scoring four minutes and 39 seconds later as Balson beat Morrison and Mashmeyer managed to record his third helper on the night.
Vancouver’s Gallagher added to his total as he put the Giants up 4-3 scoring at 8:30 taking a pass from Franson and Manning, again taking the lead in the contest.
Martinook followed that with a goal three minutes and 11 seconds later with his first of two goals on the night extending the lead to 5-3 on an solo effort beating Cheveldave on the glove side.
Kamloops got one back before the end of the period as Ully scored with 1:38 remaining in the period to make it 5-4. With both clubs heading to the third; shots in the middle frame were 12-7 for the Blazers, who held a 24-19 edge after two.
Vancouver restored the two goal lead as Burns got his second at 4:42 taking a pass from Vetterl and Makin to go up 6-4.
Cheveldave was solid despite giving up a half dozen goals at the stage of the game coming up huge with key stops to keep his team in the game.
Ranford cut the Giants lead to a one goal as he put one past Morrison at 9:08 cutting the lead to a 6-5 margin.
The Blazers ran into some late penalty concerns which included a Martinook scrap with Gaudet which completed his official “Gordie Howe hat trick”.
Vancouver got the insurance goal as Martinook scored his second of the night cutting the Giants lead to 7-5 which did prove to be the winner.
Shots in the third had both teams tied at 12.
Overall shots in the game were 36-31 which saw Morrison recorded his 26th of the season.
In the Blazers end Cole Cheveldave lost just his 8th of the year and played spectacular.
With the victory the Giants improve to 30-19-1-1 second in the BC Division with 62 points, while the Blazers who sit at the top of the division post a record of 36-12-1-3 with 75 points.
Vancouver rides the bus for a pair of games against the Winterhawks on Saturday and Monday before returning home.
This game see’s Everett Silver Tips visit the PNE where the game time 7:30pm.
