Blazers fall in Langley with second straight blowout loss

Giants crush Blazers

Photo: Rob Wilton

Vancouver's Ty Halaburda (7) cuts between Blazers forwards Josh Kelly (21) and Blake Swetlikoff (24)

It was a case of deja vu for the Kamloops Blazers on Saturday night, dropping a second consecutive blowout loss to a divisional foe.

A third period surge wasn't enough to close the gap as Kamloops fell to the Giants 7-1 in Langley, despite putting up 20 shots to Vancouver's eight in the final frame.

Forward Tommy Lafreniere scored the Blazers' lone goal — his first of the season in just his second game — to tie the game early in the first period before the Giants tallied six unanswered goals to cruise to victory in front of 4,224 fans at the Langley Events Centre.

The home team Giants led 5-1 after 40 minutes, and had heroics from centre Cameron Schmidt who took home the first star of the game with a hat trick.

Vancouver's Brett Mirwald stopped 29 of 30 shots he faced, outplaying the Blazers Dylan Ernst who made 26 saves on 33 shots.

The power play wasn't much of a factor in the game despite the lopsided score with Vancouver going 1-3 and Kamloops 0-1.

With the loss, the Blazers fall to 18-33-3-2 on the season, and are one point up on the Seattle Thunderbirds for 11th and last place in the WHL’s Western Conference. The Giants currently sit sixth in the conference standings, now at 28-26-3-0 after Saturday's victory.

The Blazers are back in action on Sunday, when they take on those same Thunderbirds in a basement battle in Kent, Wash. Their next home game is on Feb. 28, when the Spokane Chiefs visit Sandman Centre.