For today's S29: A Look Back post game show, we'll be talking about game 51 of the season, which saw the Vancouver Whalers face off against the Prince George Firebirds.

The History
In our last edition, we reviewed a matchup with the Montreal Militia... the history with whom the Whalers can't be happy with this season; as they've fallen short more often than not. In contrast, the match up with the Firebirds is one Vancouver has been able to take advantage of. Let's take a closer look:

Coming into this game, these teams had met 4 times this year. The Whalers had taken 3 of the games, earning 7 of a possible 8 points, while the Firebirds were only able to muster 2 points in those games. The Whalers had doubled up on goals against the Firebirds, outscoring them 12-6. Surprisingly, they've gotten all those goals without the benefit of having a single power play... and they'd only allowed 1 goal on 11 PK instances, a 91% kill rate. Needless to say, the Whalers have been entirely dominant over the Firebirds...

Pivotal Moments & Commentary
Period 1: 0:06
Coming into this game, the Firebirds have clearly been frustrated by their inability to have any success against Vancouver, so Dean Banger came out and immediately made an effort to set the tone... taking only 6 seconds to rack up a slashing penalty, giving Vancouver their first power play opportunity of the entire series between the two teams.
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Banger, 3rd in PIM for the Firebirds this year, set out to send a message as early as he possibly could, giving Vancouver the early PP</center>
The Whalers were naturally pleased to get a PP opportunity... but, much to the chagrin of Zach Zyvleski's sore wrist, they were unable to capitalize early. On the contrary, it would ultimately be Price George who would get things started...

Period 1: 7:33
Shortly after killing of their first PK of the game (penalty on Carl Farris for holding), Vancouver surrendered their first goal of the night, giving PGF the early lead. An icing by Carl Ferris kept the Vancouver 2nd line (both forwards and defense) on the ice while Prince George was able to bring in fresh legs. I think that fact is pivotal on this goal... because it was a turn over in their own zone which led to the goal. Jon Ross won the face off in the defensive zone, only to have a pass he attempted after receiving the puck back intercepted by Matthew Davis. That turnover led to a quick shot by Leo Yakimov, whose wide rebound off the boards was collected and stuffed into the net by Tapper Kottbulle.

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Icing can hurt you... fatigue can lead to turn overs, and when they're in your own zone, they end in goals all too often. Tapper Kottbulle stuffs in the wide rebound on Link</center>
So ended the highlights in the first period, with the Whalers trailing by 1 despite doubling up on shots, 8-4, over the Firebirds. Winning in the shot column is always nice... but it's converting that is ultimately key.

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2nd Period 2:54
After heading back to the locker room to regroup, it didn't take Vancouver long to strike back, as they managed to knot things back up at 1 within 3 minutes of the second period. Brandon Makarov's awareness and ability to collect a loose pucks in the neutral zone, and again in the Firebirds zone (after a blocked shot) payed divdends when a shot he ripped was tipped in by third line center Levi Kubrak.

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Patrick Kilgore looks on as Kubrak deflects a Markov shot past goal tender Michael McFadden in the 2nd period</center>
Vancouver would later go on to surrender two power play opportunities in the period... but yet again, as they've done for the entire season against Prince George, the PK unit was able to stymie the Firebird shooters. So with PGF unable to convert, the second period ended with the scored tied, shots 17-14 for the Whalers (with the 2nd period shots 10-9 Firebirds)

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3rd Period 9:06
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Conklin Owen celebrates as he adds a go-ahead marker in the 3rd period, a deflection goal off a Bernie Sander's shot</center>
Worth nothing is the fact that the goal which put the Whalers ahead (even if only for but a moment) started with quality defensive play by Jon Ross. Immediately after the line change which put him on the ice, Ross intercepted a pass by Ser Duncan in the neutral zone and distributed it to Alessandro Fondente who moved it into the zone. That led to a flurry of Vancouver shots, with Conklin Owen eventually deflecting a Bernie Sanders shot past McFaddden. Despite the fact that he didn't show up on the score sheet, It was Ross who got the pay started, and that fact was not lost on Owen, who reaped the benefits of his hard work.

<center>"Hats off to Ross on that goal. He's the one who got us possession and immediately looked for Fonds, and that led to our barrage on net. If he doesn't make that big hustle play, we don't get into the zone, we don't get pucks on net, and we don't score. He didn't get a point this game, but that doesn't mean we don't see the good he's doing".</center>

3rd Period 12:10
From Conklin's goal up to this point, given the lack of success the Firebirds have had against VAN, one may have thought the game was all but in hand for the Whalers. But, Price George showed their fighting spirit by bringing the game back to level past the midway mark of the 3rd period. They were not going to go down easy.

After a shot was covered up by Triforce Link, a line change and a faceoff deep in the Whalers zone were in order. Leo Yakimov won the faceoff cleanly, dropping the puck back to Trump, who blustered a pas over to Obama, who then saw Yakimov open in the high slot. A quick shot later, the puck was in the back of the net, and the prospect of a GWG for Conklin went down in flames.

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Price George center Leo Yakimov had just scored, but remained stern, knowing their work wasn't yet done... He was going for a win, not a tie.</center>
A running theme of this game, and of the series as a whole between these two teams, has been the efficiency at which the Vancouver Whalers' PK unit has operated. There were an additional 4 penalties racked up by VAN in the 3rd period (Farris, Kilgore, Kubrick- a double minor), with the PK unit yielding no opportunities for PGF to capitalize. With the Firebirds unable to put things away in the last 1:32 on the power play, the period ended in a 3-3 tie, with shots 26-22 in favor of the Whalers (9-8 in the 3rd). This game was headed to overtime!

Overtime
Overtime brought no game winner into the fray, but it was anything but highlight free. It looked at one moment as though Prince George would put the puck in for the win- if not for the acrobatic saves by Triforce Link (and frankly poor luck on their part), as the following events transpired:

Code:

1:09 of 1st overtime period - Shot by Karl Hertzberg.
1:09 of 1st overtime period - Stopped by Triforce Link with a rebound.
1:11 of 1st overtime period - Shot by Karl Hertzberg.
1:11 of 1st overtime period - Shot Misses the Net.
2:15 of 1st overtime period - Shot by Gabriel Belmont.
2:15 of 1st overtime period - Shot Misses the Net.
2:49 of 1st overtime period - Shot by Casper Jakobsson.
2:49 of 1st overtime period - Stopped by Triforce Link with a rebound.

But alas, the Firebird's best efforts were not enough to come out with the win in overtime, sending the game to a shootout- the first of the regular season series between the two teams.

Shootout
The story of the first two rounds was all about the goal tenders, with both McFadden and Link denying Charlie Conway and Karl Hertzberg respectively. The next two rounds held stark contrast, with both Levi Kubrak and Kip Kippery beating the men between the pipes to go into the 3rd round square at 1 apiece. In round 3, it was scoring extraordinaire Patrick Kilgore who put the move on McFadden to keep the pressure up on the Firebirds:
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Kilgore lifts a backhand effort past McFadden to put the Whalers ahead in the shootout</center>
Continuation of the shootout fell on the shoulders of 2nd line center Casper Jakobsson, who had only had 1 shot on goal in regulation... a cold forward vs. a hot goal tender is always difficult to overcome, and Triforce Link was in a zone where he just couldn't be beat. His stop ended the shootout with yet another victory over the reeling Prince George Firebirds.
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Triforce Link absolutely robs Jakobsson in the 3rd round of the shootout, securing victory for the Vancouver Whalers</center>

MVP
The honor can go to none other than Triforce Link. His performance on the penalty kill, especially his ability to endure the double major to end regulation and into overtime extended the game to a point where Vancouver had a viable chance at winning. He then made the decisive save in the shootout in spectacular fashion to send Prince George packing. His teammates can't always expect him to stand on his head like he did tonight, but they're grateful he was able to bail them out this time.