SPOKANE, Wash. — The Chiefs were hoping to see last year's history not repeat itself this season as the team headed home for a pair of home games to cap the first month of the season. Last year Spokane had started the season with a pair of road wins, but then proceeded to lose 12 of its' next 13 through a miserable October. This year Spokane had once again won a pair of road games to start the campaign, but had dropped 3 straight, two of them at home, to fall from first in the U.S. Division to sixth.
Spokane had a chance to erase history, and move back up in the division standings, as they came back to the Spokane Arena for consecutive home games against Kamloops and Brandon this past week. First up were the Blazers on Wednesday night. Spokane had opened the season with a hard fought overtime win in Kamloops and were hoping to make it two straight over the defending B.C. Division champions. Cooper Michaluk, who had picked up the win in net in the season opener was back in goal for the Chiefs in the teams second meeting.
Things did not start well for Spokane as the Blazers scored on the first shot of the game just 40 seconds into the contest to jump out to a 1-0 lead. Michaluk would turn aside the next 10 shots of the period including two net front opportunities that could have extended the Blazer lead. The Chiefs would head to the second period down by one, but Kamloops would aid the Spokane comeback in the middle frame by taking 5 of the 6 penalties in the period, including the last 4 in a row. Spokane would even the game on their 3rd power play of the second when Lukas Kral scored a goal in his second straight game at 14:24 of the period to make it 1-1. The Chiefs came right back and scored on their next power play as Brayden Crampton fired home his second of the season at 18:02 to give Spokane a 2-1 lead heading to the third.
The Chiefs would start the final period on the power play but after missing a breakaway in the opening seconds, the Blazers countered with a 2 on 1 break to score shorthanded just 18 seconds in the third to tie the game at 2-2. Kamloops would get a 5 minute power play midway through the third on a major kneeing penalty. Spokane's penalty kill would kill off the 5 minute Blazer power play late in the period to finish a perfect 3 for 3 on the game and keep the contest even at 2-2. The Chiefs then got their first and only power play of the third with less than 3 minutes left in the game. Spokane would capitalize as Berkly Catton finished off the power play chance with his team leading 4th goal of the season at 17:37 to give the Chiefs a 3-2 lead.
Michaluk and the Chiefs defense would do the rest as Spokane turned away 12 Kamloops shots in the third and denied the Blazers with an extra attacker on over the final minute and a half of the game. The Chiefs snapped their 3 game losing streak and moved back to the .500 mark with their second straight win over Kamloops this season with a 3-2 victory. Spokane out shot the Blazers 38-30 and went 3 for 8 on the power play to move into a tie for third place in the U.S. Division, just 2 points back of first place Portland. The Chiefs had the chance to build on the win streak as they remained home for their final game of the week as they hosted the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Brandon was the first team from the East Division to come to Spokane since the 2020 season as the Chiefs hosted the Wheat Kings Saturday night. The Wheaties started their U.S. Division swing the night before in Tri Cities with a 5-2 victory as they rallied to score 3 in the third to get their second straight victory on their current road trip. The Wheat Kings won last year's game in Brandon but had not won in Spokane since October of 2015. The Wheaties look bound and determined to change that on Saturday though as they would jump out to a 1-0 lead on an Anthony Wilson goal 11:09 into the game. Wilson would follow up with his second of the night at the 15 minute mark to give Brandon a 2-0 advantage after the opening 20 minutes.
Spokane would get two of the three power plays in the second and would break through on the scoreboard on their second power play when Berkly Catton scored his team leading 5th of the season at 14:48 to bring the Chiefs within 2-1. Catton was back at it with a laser from the left circle at 17:29 to make it an even game 2-2. Chase Harrington registered his first career point with an assist and newly acquired defenseman Layton Feist got his first point as a Chief with the secondary helper. The shots were even at 20-20 after 40 minutes as the two clubs headed to the third.
The shots would be even at 9-9 in the third as the two teams traded chances in the final period. The Chiefs would break the deadlock with Cole Wadsworth score on a rebound at 8:48 of the period for his first career WHL goal to give Spokane a 3-2 lead. Goalie Dawson Cowan would shut down the Wheat Kings over the final period as he turned aside 27 shots to register his second win of the season. The victory was the second straight one goal triumph at home in 4 days and pushed the Chiefs over the .500 mark with a 4-3 record. Spokane's 8 points pushed them into a tie for second in the division, just 2 points back of first place Portland.
The team will now get most of the week off as they head out on the road for a 3 games in 3 nights stretch over the weekend in Victoria and Vancouver. The Chiefs will take on the Royals in Victoria Friday night at 7:05 pm and then again the next night at 6:05 pm. Spokane will finish the road swing in Vancouver on Sunday at 4:05 pm. It will be a challenging road trip for the team, that's for sure. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA starting with the pre-game shows at 6:30 pm Friday, 5:30 pm Saturday and 3:30 pm Sunday. We hope to see you on the radio!
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