Tommy Lafreniere celebrating his 40th goal of the WHL season on March 21, 2026. (Image Credit: Rob Wilton/Vancouver Giants)

By Victor Kaisar

Blazers 4 Giants 3 OT

Lafreniere’s OT winner lifts Blazers past Giants in WHL season finale

Mar 22, 2026 | 6:00 AM

LANGLEY, B.C. — Tommy Lafreniere scored just 15 seconds into overtime to lift the Kamloops Blazers to a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Giants Saturday (March 21) night at the Langley Events Centre.

Lafreniere had two goals – and an assist – to move past the 40 goal mark this season, less than 24 hours after J.P. Hurlbert achieved the feat.

The duo are the first Blazers teammates to cross the 40 goal threshold in a WHL season since Konstantin Panov (44 in 69 games) and Scottie Upshall (42 in 70 games) did so in 2000-01.

Lafreniere scored goal number 40 on the power play at 14:42 of the opening period. It was enough to give Kamloops the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Josh Evaschesen’s 33rd of the season made it 2-0 Blazers less than five minutes into the second period, but the Giants roared back to tie things up at 2-2 after two.

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Mathis Preston gave Vancouver its first lead midway through the third period, but Andrew Thomson brought the Blazers back even just 76 seconds later.

In overtime, Lafreniere tipped in a pass after a give and go play with Jordan Keller to give the Blazers the extra point, and – for now – fifth place in the Western Conference.

Kamloops has 75 points from 68 games, while Spokane has 74 from 67. The Chiefs close out the season at home against the Seattle Thunderbirds Sunday.

A Spokane loss in regulation will set up a first-round playoff matchup between the Blazers and the Kelowna Rockets. If Spokane wins in any manner or loses in overtime or a shootout, the Blazers will face the Prince George Cougars.

Blazers netminder Ivans Kufternins stopped 28 of 31 shots Saturday. Vancouver’s Kelton Pyne stopped 28 of 32 in the loss.

The Blazers will begin the playoffs on the road next Friday (March 27). They’ll host games three and four on Tuesday and Wednesday the following week (March 31 and April 1).

Playoff tickets are set to go on general sale via Ticketmaster at 10:00 a.m. Monday. Tickets can also be bought at the Blazers box office at the Sandman Centre.