Game 8 Recap

-Riku Helenius in goal for Seattle. I imagine that Jacob DeSerres would likley get the start tomorrow night in Portland.

-Seattle off to a real slow start... Giants outshooting them 6-0 in the first 5 minutes. Tbirds can't afford another 50 shots on goal like they did in Chilliwack.

-O'Brien is really fast... I'll probably write that like 50 times this year, he splits two defenders and draws a penalty. Shots on Goal are still 8-0 in favor of Giants.

-Richard draws a trip to negate the last :17 seconds of the Power Play and Blum bangs home a rebound about a minute later and Vancouver takes a 1-0 lead.

-Tbirds finally show a little bif of fire at the end of the period, but trail 1-0 and Vancouver outshoots them 13-5 in the period. Much of the same from Chilliwack, Tbirds need to find their game again.

-Richard and Henry drop the gloves... maybe a slight edge to Richard.

-Giants go up 2-0 on a weird angle goal. Evander Kane threw it in from the end wall and I believe it goes off Olson's skate and trickles into the corner of the net. 2-0 Giants.

-Very critical goal by Bud Holloway, shorthanded with 1:12 left in the 2nd period. Vancouver turnover led to the 2 on 1 and Holloway stayed open all the way to the net and flipped it up over the glove of Sexsmith. Very big goal to end the 2nd period down only 1 instead of 2.

-Shots on Goal after 2 periods... 27-18 Vancouver.

-Tbirds have tied it up! Another Giant turnover leads to another 2 on 1 and Holloway this time fakes the slap shot, both the defender and Sexsmith bite on the fake and Bud slides a perfect feed across the middle to Eberle who bangs it home and we're tied at 2-2.

-Tbirds showing much more fire and confidence since the end of the 1st period.

-Teams trade chances but nobody scores and we head to overtime tied at 2-2. Shots on Goal after regulation are 40-23 for Vancouver. I said earlier that they cannot afford to give up more than 35 shots, so we'll see how this turns out.

-Horrible bounce off the boards in overtime leads to an easy feed by Wright across to Berube who buries the game winner at 3:10 to play in OT. Tough break for Seattle.

Overall I can't say the Tbirds really deserved to win that game so the outcome seems justified. I thought the effort and determination was really solid after a shaky first period. Sumner was quoted after the game saying it took about a period to get their confidence back and it showed. 1 point is still better than 0 points and Vancouver is a quality team. If this happens tonight in Portland I would be much more concerned.

Let's review the keys to the game...

1. Crack the Giants PK unit and score at least 1 PP goal. - No... Tbirds finish 0/7 on the PP and fail to tally a PP goal for the first time this year.

2. Limit shots on goal to under 35 (since 30 didn't work last time). - No...Vancouver managed 41 shots on goal, 40 of which were in regulation.

3. Punch the Giants in the teeth... meaning Seattle must establish a physical presence early in the game. - Yes and No... I thought Vancouver really took it to them in the 1st period and later Seattle got physical.

4. Continue earning more PP chances than opponent. - Yes... a good sign again the Tbirds earn 7 PP's to the Giants 5.

Let's Go Birds blog 3 stars of the game.

1. Evender Kane, VAN. Goal and Assist in the win for Vancouver
2. Bud Holloway. Really kept Seattle in it with his goal and assist
3. James Wright, VAN. Tallied 2 assists including the pass for the game winner

Honorable mention... Riku Helenius, certainly can't fault his game stopping 38/41 shots and the game winner was a horrible bounce to set it up.

I will be attending the Hear See Hope Charity Auction tonight and will not be able to provide any kind of analysis for the game in Portland tonight. If someone watches or listens to it, feel free to comment.