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It was far from a perfect performance but the Giants managed to start the postseason on a winning note.
James Henry scored 33 seconds into overtime Friday to complete Vancouver's comeback, defeating the Kamloops Blazers 4-3 in Game 1 of the WHL Western Conference quarterfinals at the Pacific Coliseum.
"The inresult is what we wanted," said Henry, who threw the puck on net from just inside the blueline, finding a hole through goaltender Kurtis Mucha. "We talked about it between periods, just keep getting shots and hopefully one will go in. We were just able to get a lucky one there and then."
Appearing in their eighth consecutive playoff appearance, the Giants got off to a rocky first period despite trying to set the tone early.
A scrimmage broke out in Vancouver's end just over a minute into the game, resulting in five minor penalties.
With Vancouver going on the kill, the Giants regular season points leader Craig Cunningham opened the scoring with a shorthander but Kamloops' Austin Madaisky replied just 32 seconds later, wiring a shot through traffic on the powerplay to even the score at one.
Under a minute later, Brendan Ranford found himself on a deep two-on-one with Colin Smith, who fed him the puck, and converted to put the visitors up 2-1.
Soon after, the Blazers tallied again, with a Ryan Hanes goal, to double the lead as Giants goaltender Mark Segal allowed three goals on seven shots.
Down by two, Tomas Vincour pulled the hosts within one late in the period with a four-on-four goal.
"The biggest thing for us was come out with a really good start," said Lance Bouma, who finished with an assist. "The penalties hurt us but we got back playing our game and was solid all the way through."
After a goal-filled opening frame, the second period was a different story.
Neither team managed to get on the scoreboard, despite the Giants having six powerplay opportunities and dominating 17-4 in shots.
The trend continued in the third until the 14:48 mark when Vancouver finally tied it with Cunningham's second of the night.
"If we just played our game, we knew we would be alright," said Bouma. "It's important that we play in their end as much as possible and just wear down their defencemen."
Vancouver spent most the second half of the game in Kamloops end, as the Blazers failed to get any shots on net in the third.
The Giants also had two more powerplay opportunities in the third period, going 0-for-nine on the night.
With the win, Vancouver improves their all-time playoff record to 56-22, and leads the current series 1-0.
The two teams meet again Saturday for Game 2 at Pacific Coliseum. Game time 7:00 p.m. PT.