麻豆AV

There was no way the 麻豆AV Rockets were going to let the Vancouver Giants have an easy time of it 鈥� not like they did six days prior at the Langley Events Centre.

On Sept. 18, the the Western Hockey League B.C. Division rivals met on Vancouver鈥檚 home ice, and the G-Men skated to an easy 6-1 victory.

But on this night, 麻豆AV wasn鈥檛 an easy out by any stretch.

In fact, the Rockets scored the lone goal of the third period on a power play to snap a 2-2 tie, and earn a 3-2 victory.

The Giants have now lost two in a row, three of their past four, and drop below the .500 mark at 10-11-2-2.

And while the game was close and hotly contested, there were enough red flags in Giants head coach Jason McKee鈥檚 perspective, that he was hinting towards some lineup changes in the very near future.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to make some changes to some personnel in certain areas,鈥� McKee said. 鈥淲hen you don鈥檛 execute, there鈥檚 got to be changes. We鈥檝e went with the same group of guys for a long time now, and tonight our execution wasn鈥檛 where it needs to be. When the coaches are yelling from the bench what we鈥檙e trying to do, that kind of tells you we鈥檙e not dialed into what we鈥檙e trying to execute.

鈥淲e鈥檒l make some changes and we鈥檒l move forward tomorrow (when the Giants visit Everett to play the Silvertips).鈥�

It was an ugly start for the hosts when, 1:31 into the opening frame, they lackadaisically bobbled the puck in their own zone while on a power play, allowing 麻豆AV鈥檚 Carsen Twarynski to easily curl with it on the boards and wrist it past goaltender Todd Scott鈥檚 blocker for his 14th of the campaign.

The Giants answered quickly on another power play. A rebound off a Giants captain Tyler Benson鈥檚 wrist shot bounced right onto the stick of Brendan Semchuk, who steered the puck into the open net from about three feet away.

The Rockets took a 2-1 lead early in the second period on a power play after Giants defenceman Dylan Plouffe was called for delay of game. A screenshot tipped in front by 麻豆AV鈥檚 Kyle Topping drifted past Todd. The goal was reviewed and deemed not to be tipped in with a high stick.

But seconds later, hard work in front of the net by Dawson Holt allowed the Giants centre to smack a loose puck into the open from the blue paint to tie the game at 2-2.

The turning point came early in the third period. Ty Ronning was called for goaltender interference. It looked like the Giants鈥� leading scorer was pushed into 麻豆AV netminder James Porter while Ronning was driving hard to the net with the puck.

The Rockets capitalized on the power play when 麻豆AV centre Dillon Dube鈥檚 snapshot found a way past Scott at the 3:13 mark of the final frame. The goal stood up as the game winner

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a tough one,鈥� McKee said, about the call on Ronning. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a tough one against us and that鈥檚 all I鈥檓 going to say about that one.鈥�

The Giants put on some intense late pressure and pulled Scott for the extra attacker, but weren鈥檛 able to net the equalizer.

McKee said the difference on this night was special teams. The Rockets scored on two of their four power play chances while the Giants went 1-8 with the man advantage.

鈥淥ur power play wasn鈥檛 very good; our PK struggled, too, a bit, we didn鈥檛 get in lanes,鈥� McKee said. 鈥淲hen we got down, a lot of the guys tried to turn the game into a one-one-one and we have a bad habit of that. We鈥檝e to go learn that when you get down, you鈥檝e got to continue to play as a group and as a team because there are too many good players, too many good teams in this league.鈥�

Vancouver outshot 麻豆AV 32-24. Porter was solid in net in earning first star of the game honours.

The Giants have little time to rest. They鈥檙e heading to Everett tomorrow (Saturday) to play the Silvertips.

Vancouver鈥檚 next home game is Tuesday, Nov. 28 when they host the Seattle Thunderbirds at the LEC. Game time is 7 p.m.