Returning home after a demanding 6 games in 9 nights road trip, the Chiefs hoped the home rink at the Spokane Arena would rejuvenate the team to play like they did on opening night. Spokane had not played in front of the home fans since they came from behind to beat Tri City back on September 26th.
The Chiefs had a fairly successful road trip, going 2-3-1 against some very good teams like Victoria and Everett. Spokane made a couple of rosters moves after returning home as well, as the club released 20 year old goaltender Garret Hughson and picked up 20 year old forward Luke Harrison to re-fill out the overage spots on the roster. Spokane had played probably their best game of the trip in a 5-4 overtime loss at Everett, and were hoping to build on that contest as they came home to host the Eastern Division leading Prince Albert Raiders on Friday night.
Prince Albert had won their last two in a row on their U.S. Division swing, winning at Portland and Tri City, after losing in a shootout at Seattle and in regulation in Everett. The Raiders came out quick against the Chiefs as they looked like a team determined to win 3 in a row to cap the U.S. journey. A breakaway goal three minutes into the game gave Prince Albert a 1-0 lead. Spokane would roar back in the period though as Markson Bechtold slammed home a rebound just 54 seconds later to tie the game at one. Riley Whittingham, in his first game back from a 3 game suspension, notched his first goal of the season at 16:36 on a give and go from Keanu Yamamoto to give the Chiefs a 2-1 advantage. Harrison would make himself noticed in his first game in Spokane as he scored with just 16 seconds left in the first to give the Chiefs a 3-1 lead after one.
The Chiefs had a two goal lead despite being outshot 12-6 in the period. Spokane would only manage 4 shots in the second, but maintained their 2 goal lead. The Raiders tallied a power play goal early in the period to cut the lead to 3-2, but Kolten Olynek would score his first goal of the season on a great feed from Whittingham at 13:25 to give Spokane a 4-2 lead after two.
It looked like the Chiefs were in a great position to win game 1 of the 5 game homestand despite putting up just 10 shots in 40 minutes. Unfortunately, the third period would see the Raiders come out and take the game to Spokane. Prince Albert scored 4 goals in the first 11:06 to take control of the contest and an empty net tally in the final seconds capped a 5 goal third and a 7-4 win for the Raiders.
Prince Albert outshot Spokane 34-24, going 2-3 on the power play while the Chiefs did not generate one power play chance. While having flashes of playing well, for the most part, the Raiders outskated and won the battles in physicality throughout the game. It was a just result, as the Chiefs hoped to amp up their performance the next night against the team with the worst record in the league, the Kamloops Blazers.
The Blazers were just 1-7 and their 2 points were the least in the WHL. Kamloops had been run over by Seattle the night before in Kent as the Thunderbirds rolled to an easy 7-2 win. The Chiefs would jump out on top just 4:17 into the game when Bechtold scored his second goal in as many nights on a tipped shot to give Spokane a 1-0 lead after the first.
Spokane was outshot 9-3 in the period though, and would fail miserably on their only power play chance of the period. It would turn out to be their only man advantage chance of the weekend. In the second, the Blazers would even the game after a video review negated what looked like an unbelievable save by Tyson Verhelst early in the period. The goal jump started the Blazers as they would score again at 12:07 to take a 2-1 lead after two.
Spokane had outshot Kamloops 13-11 in the second, so I figured if the Chiefs would come out with another 13-15 shots in the third, it would bode well for Spokane getting back in the game. Unfortunately, the Chiefs looked like the team that arrived in the middle of the night before the game from Seattle, as Spokane put up a measly 4 shots in the third. Kamloops only had 7 in the stanza, but would score on 3 of them, including a goal in the final seconds to wrap up an easy 5-1 win.
It was the Blazers first road win in 5 tries this season, and the first in the Spokane Arena in 4 seasons. Spokane managed a season low 20 shots as the club dropped their 5th straight game to fall into 4th place in the U.S. Division.
The Chiefs have a lotttt of work to do going into a tough week on the schedule. The team will definitely have to have the veteran leadership core take the bull by the horns and set an example on how the structure is to be played. There was little of that this past weekend. This team is not nearrrlyyy talented enough to win games with individual one on one play.
The results of the game Saturday spoke volumes on that front. It will be a very tough challenge this week when the defending Eastern Conference champion and league favorite Brandon Wheat Kings come to town Wednesday. The B.C. Division co-leading Victoria Royals will follow on Friday and Saturday. Needless to say, the Chiefs better figure out how to play a structured game with a lottt more effort this week, or it could get ugly in a hurry. Here's hoping the team figures it out sooner than later. I'll have the call on 1510 KGA with the pre-game shows at 6:30pm and the puck drops at 7:05pm. We hope to see you at the rink!
