By Colton Davies

Blazers win 4-2 at home against Vancouver

Feb 27, 2016 | 10:31 PM

KAMLOOPS —It wasn’t pretty, but the Blazers battled to earn a 4-2 win on home ice over the Vancouver Giants on Saturday night.

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The Blazers were powered by a hat trick from captain Matt Needham, who returned after missing Friday night’s game against the Everett Silvertips with a one-game suspension. Needham tipped-in a powerplay goal with nine seconds left in the first period to give the Blazers a 1-0 lead, and doubled the score with a goal off the rush less than three minutes into the second period. He added an empty-netter with 43 seconds left in the third.

Needham says he was motivated after watching his club knock off the U.S. Division-leading Silvertips.

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“It was awesome, I watched the game last night, it was a great team effort”, Needham said. “They did everything they needed to do to win against a good team. I was kind of a little bit pumped up and missing being out of the lineup. I just had that extra little jump in my step and it paid off.”

Collin Shirley scored his 33rd goal of the season on a wrap-around to beat Giants goalie Jake Morrissey, which stood as the eventual game-winner.

Blazers goalie Connor Ingram was named the game’s first star and had 38 saves in the win, and bailed his team out on a number of occasions during a second period where Kamloops was outshot 20-6.

“I thought we had a real good first period, the emotion that we gained from last night kind of wore off”, Blazers Head Coach Don Hay said. “It was a grind-it-out game, and we found a way to grind it out and score goals at the opportunities that presented themselves. Shirley’s goal in the third was a real important goal for us.”

The game saw the two team’s exchange rough stuff throughout the game, which included fights early in the first period and late in the third period. The Blazers were 1-2 on the powerplay, while the Giants went 1-3.

With the win, the Blazers pick up their second win in as many nights, while the Giants drop their third straight game.

The Blazers will play their third game in three nights Sunday night against the Seattle Thunderbirds, who will also be on the third of three-in-three in Kamloops. Puck drop at the Sandman Centre will be at 6:00pm.