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Gallagher guns down Bruins in B.C. division clash

After two solid games to start a three-games-in-three-nights B.C. division weekend, the roof fell in on the Chilliwack Bruins Sunday night.

The good guys dropped a 7-3 decision to the Vancouver Giants at the Pacific Coliseum, in a game that was every bit as one-sided as the final score would indicate.

The Giants dominated the first period and opened the scoring 4:31 in on a goal by Andrej Stastny.

After going goal-less in his first seven Western Hockey League games, the Slovakian import broke out with a hat-trick versus Kamloops Saturday night. Against the Bruins, Stastny netted his fourth of the year with a shot from the slot that beat Chilliwack netminder Lucas Gore.

Gore was oustanding to that point, with shots on goal favouring Vancouver 11-0.

But the shooting gallery continued for the rest of the period, and the Giants surged ahead with a pair of late goals 58 seconds apart.

At the tail end of a lengthy power play (including a five-on-three for 1:35), Brendan Gallagher spotted Ryan Howse playing defence. The Montreal Canadiens draft pick capitalized on the mismatch, driving around Howse to net his 30th of the year at 18:30.

With 32 second left in the opening frame, Michael Burns froze Brandon Manning with a fake shot and darted past him to score his ninth of the year.

Shots on goal through 20 minutes favoured Vancouver 21-1.

Vancouver scored three more in the second period, led by Stastny, who scored his second of the game at 5:26. The Slovakian sniper went top shelf blocker side on a two-on-one rush for his fifth of the year.

Gallagher got his 31st of the year at 6:15, then notched his 32nd on a shorthanded breakaway at 17:18.

Jordan Martinook pushed the Giants lead to 7-0, scoring his eighth of the year 1:27 into the final frame.

The Bruins got a three third period tallies to make the final score a bit more respectable.

Blair Wentworth created a turnover behind the Vancouver net and Steven Hodges jammed the puck past Giants netminder Mark Segal at 2:39.

Roman Horak added his 18th of the year on a power play at 9:12 and Robin Soudek scored off another Giants turnover at 17:59.

Gore went the distance in net for Chilliwack, stopping 29 of 36 shots.

Segal got the win for Vancouver, stopping 11 of 13 shots before giving way to backup Brendan Jensen in third period.

Three stars were Gallagher (first), Stastny (second and Burns (third).

The Bruins are on the road Wednesday night, visiting the Portland Winter Hawks. The next home game is Saturday night at 7 p.m. versus the Kamloops Blazers.



Eric Welsh

About the Author: Eric Welsh

I joined the Chilliwack Progress in 2007, originally hired as a sports reporter.
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