SPOKANE, Wash. — After finishing off a 4 game home stand with back to back disappointing losses to Vancouver and Tri City, the Chiefs headed out on the road for the first time in two weeks as they started a 3 game road trip.The team was 6 points back of second place Portland and just 2 ahead of 4th place Tri City as the Chiefs started in Seattle on Tuesday. Spokane was a bit short handed up front as well, as they were without 3 forwards; Eli Zummack and Cordel Larson, who were out to injury, and Luc Smith, who was attending a family funeral. If there was one thing in the Chiefs favor, they had won the previous 5 meetings with Seattle in the 6 game season series and were hoping to finish off the Thunderbirds with an unbeaten record.
Things didn't appear to be heading in that direction though on Tuesday, as the T-Birds jumped out to a 1-0 lead just over 4 minutes into the game. Spokane would answer though, as Jake McGrew netted his 19th of the season on a power play tally with just 15 seconds left in the first to tie the game at one after 20 minutes. Any momentum gained from that goal disappeared a mere 24 seconds into the second when a turnover inside the Chiefs zone led to a goal for Seattle as they took a 2-1 lead. Spokane couldn't muster any more offense on their 21 shots over the next two periods, as the team's offensive struggles continued on a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Seattle. The Chiefs have now scored a mere 3 goals in their last 8 periods, as they are in their biggest scoring slump of the season...by far. The shame of it is, Spokane has held opponents to just 7 goals over those 8 periods..amongst their best defense of the season, with just 2 goals allowed over the last 6 periods. All there is to show for that though is 3 straight losses, something the team hoped to turn around as they headed to Kamloops on Friday.
The Chiefs had won both meetings over the Blazers in Spokane earlier this season, but both games had been close defensive affairs as Spokane had won 3-1 and 4-1. I was expecting more of the same as the two clubs met in Kamloops for the first time. The team welcomed back Luc Smith, who would play his ex-teammates for the first time in Kamloops. Spokane did not exactly start the game in ideal fashion, as the Blazers leading scorer Zane Franklin finished off a 2 on 1 just 28 seconds into the contest to make it 1-0 Kamloops. The Blazers extended the lead to 2-0 on a tip from Connor Zary at 8:01 and took that 2-0 advantage into the second. The Chiefs were unable to cut into the margin in the second despite out shooting Kamloops 11-3 in the period as it remained a 2-0 Blazer lead after two.
Spokane came out and out shot Kamloops 16-7 in the third, but the Blazers scored the only goal on a rebound from Jermaine Loewen just over 6 minutes in as the Chiefs were shutout for just the second time this season as Kamloops scored a 3-0 victory. The offensive misery continued for the Chiefs as Spokane has now scored just 3 goals in their last 11 plus periods this past week in 4 games. It's not like the Chiefs are getting out chanced either, as Spokane has out shot their past 3 opponents. In Friday's game, Spokane put up 27 shots to Kamloops 10 over the final 2 periods, and yet could not score a goal. The Chiefs had to flush that game away though, as the team got on the bus to make the 8 plus hour journey from Kamloops to Tri Cities to face the Americans on Saturday.
The Ams had also been blanked on Friday, having lost 2-0 at home to division leading Everett. The big question was, who was going to find the net first on Saturday? As it turned out, it was the Chiefs that broke through, as Adam Beckman scored during a 4 on 4 from Jaret Anderson-Dolan just over 15 minutes into the first to give Spokane a 1-0 lead after one. Spokane was dominant in the first, out shooting Tri City 19-8 in the first 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the Chiefs made a couple of mistakes in the second period that cost them as the Americans scored 2 odd man rush goals to take a 2-1 lead after two. Spokane would get numerous chances in the third, out shooting the Ams 17-6, but another odd man rush from Tri City with just over 4 minutes left wrapped up a 3-1 victory for the Americans, as the Chiefs dropped their season high 5th straight game.
The offensive misery continued for Spokane, as the team has now scored just 4 goals in its' last 14.5 periods of hockey. This club is too talented offensively to be struggling this badly, and there's no doubt in my mind it has become a psychological issue for this team. There were opportunites galore the last two games in Kamloops and Tri City, yet the team's big guns consistently missed the open net or fired the puck square into the goaltender. 85 shots over the last two games...1 goal. The WHL's power play 0-8 the last 6 periods. I lost count how many times I buried my head on the desk, rolled my eyes skyward, and just threw the pen down over the last 48 hours. As frustrating as it has been to watch, times that by 10 to be playing through it. Spokane will just have to grind out some goals in their next outing, and hopefully will not get cute with the puck and get a greasy rebound goal to help break the dam that has them frustrated offensively.
The Chiefs return home for a two game home stand to start their biggest week of the season. The team is now tied with Tri City for third in the division as Spokane has dropped 5 of 7 to the Americans this season. The Chiefs are also 10 points back of Portland for 2nd in the U.S. and the home ice spot in the first round of the playoffs. Spokane will host Portland in a must win in regulation on Wednesday before welcoming Kelowna on Friday. The Chiefs then head to Portland for another must win on Saturday to close out the week. Let's face facts. The team has 22 games left in the regular season, 3 against Portland. Spokane musttt take all 6 points to have a chance to catch the Winterhawks, and they can't allow any points to Portland in overtime. Anything short of that, and the Chiefs can start looking at being on the road for a possible game 7 in the post season. In the meantime, Spokane must find the net first. The longer this drought continues, the more of a mental strain it's going to present for the club. I'll have the call on 103.5 the Game for Wednesday and Friday's home games with the pre-game at 6:30 pm and the puck drops at 7:05 pm. Saturday's game from Portland will be on 94.1 the Bear due to Gonzaga playing and the pre-game will be at 5:30 pm with the puck drop at 6:05 pm. Let's hope the Chiefs start scoring some goals, and getting some wins, and we hope to see you at the rink!