The Giants dropped their fourth straight for the first time this season. Their PP and scoring, which was so daunting on their eastern road swing have both deserted them. Special teams were the game story tonight as the Rockets scored 2 and the Giants failed to score any with 7 chances, including a 5 on 3. The Rockets netminder did not have to be great in this one, making only one really big stop on the night. The Giants have not been getting the shots, or the number of shots they want to get on net and they have not been working for those shots nearly hard enough. The result being that they have just allowed two teams they could see come playoff time the confidence that they can beat them handily. Something you never ever want to give an opponent. The G’s had a solid first period. Not exactly offensively dangerous, but solid at both ends of the ice. A better showing than they had in Kamloops and took care of their end of the ice better in the whole game. The teams had a few fights early on, but didn't score until the second. The Rockets notched one in the second on the PP and added another PP marker in the third and then an empty netter to top off the game, shutting out the Giants and giving the Rockets their second shut-out in as many games, one for each of their goalies.

The first started with fireworks and fisticuffs. Nolan Toigo and Lucas Bloodoff tangled just 30 seconds into the contest. A decent battle to start the game. A few minutes later it was Brett Breitkreuz and Mitch Callahan to drop the mitts with Callahan taking the worst of the bout. Despite this kind of energetic beginning the momentum did not carry into the game itself, especially for the Giants who slimly out shot the Rockets in the period. Vancouver and Kelowna traded PP chances for the rest of the first with neither team generating much offensive danger. The Rockets tallied one early in the second on a 5 on 3 chance when the Giants were tagged for two separate penalties on the same play. They weathered the two man advantage for the majority of the kill, but could not keep it out of their net for the whole time. Shayne Barrie tickled the twine from the point putting his team up by one. Barrie scored all of the Rockets goals tonight, putting his hat-trick marker into an empty net. David Musil and Brett Bulmer dropped the mitts late in the middle frame, with Musil taking the slim win.

The Giants sagged in the second and third squandering their PP opportunities and were not able to get a puck past Adam Brown to break his goose-egg. The Rockets made their PP chances count enough for the win. Barrie squeaked a floater through Mark Segal early in the third, while on the PP to set the table for his trifecta. Not a great goal to give in a game like this as an unmotivated Giants squad were not driving from behind enough to challenge for the game, let alone engineer the full come-back. The game itself was very chippy, with frequent scrums after the whistle and a physical game on the ice. The Giants did not seem to be able to really work the puck to the front of the net and get those really good chances though. Craig Cunningham is dropping behind in the scoring race and the Giants are stumbling just when they should be driving for the finish line with power. Brett Lyon and Mitchell Chapman tangled early in the third. A pretty even bout. The chippiness continued throughout the third, but the visitors had a hard time finding their groove and a strong line to the net. In the end pulling the goalie to get something positive out of this game back-fired when the Rockets scored into the open cage, getting Barrie the hat in the process. I'm not sure how valuable that gamble was, but that's why they call it a gamble.

The Rockets out shot the Giants 31-26, and went 2 for 6 on the PP. The Giants were 0 for 7 and badly squandered their chances as their PP has seemed to have gone stone cold after being red-hot a couple of weeks back. Losing their fourth straight might very well be a bit of wake-up call for the Giants and maybe a strong offensive out-burst in Chilliwack tomorrow wil exorcise some of those demons. Both Kelowna and Kamloops visit the Giants for the G's last two home games finally back at the Coliseum. The Giants need to put together a dominant game in Chilliwack on Sunday and if they fight, they need to make it count and take that energy into the rest of the game. Puck drops at Prospera in the valley at 5pm.

Three Stars

1. Tyson Barrie
2. Adam Brown
3 Brandon McMillan