SPOKANE, Wash. — The Chiefs were in full re-group mode as they entered the Thanksgiving holiday after dropping back to back games to Kelowna and Calgary the previous weekend.
Spokane had been outscored 16-5 in the two losses and the team was now 7 points back of Tri City for 4th in the U.S. Division and for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Chiefs had managed just 9 points out of a possible 36 in their first 18 games this season and had already suffered a 9 game losing streak in those 18 contests.
After being badly outplayed for most of the previous two games, Spokane set out to reset their team game as they got ready for a 3 game week over Thanksgiving week.
Vancouver vs Spokane
First up would be the Vancouver Giants, who came for their first visit this season to the Spokane Arena on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.
The Giants were sitting third in the B.C. Division and 6th in the West as they sat 9 points ahead of Spokane in the standings. The Chiefs entered Wednesday's game still without captain Raegan Wiles, who was still out with an upper-body injury. The club did welcome back center Michael Cicek, who returned after being out for the previous two weeks. Spokane went with goalie Cooper Michaluk after Dawson Cowan put up a 54-save performance in the loss to Calgary the Saturday before.
In a fairly even first period, the two clubs didn't score for the first 13 minutes of the game. Spokane's penalty kill, which has struggled mightily all season coming in ranked last in the league at just 58.5%, turned away a Giants 5-minute power play midway through the period.
Unfortunately, less than a minute after that penalty kill, Vancouver scored on an odd-man rush to go ahead 1-0. The Chiefs would come back and equalize just 42 seconds later as Berkly Catton scored his 5th of the year to even the game at 1-1. Vancouver would get a go-ahead goal from Zach Ostapchuk off a breakaway late in the period to take a 2-1 lead after one.
The Giants would come out in the second and expand their lead to 3-1 after scoring just over 3.5 minutes into the period. Despite failing on 5 straight power play chances in the second, the Chiefs would storm back and tie the game late in the frame. Carter Streek scored off a great Cade Hayes feed with just over 5 minutes remaining to bring Spokane within 3-2. A minute and a half later, Ben Bonni got credit for his 2nd goal of the year after an own goal from the Giants and the Chiefs pulled even at 3-3. Ostapchuk would come right back though and score his second of the game with less than 3 minutes left to put the Giants up 4-3 after two.
Vancouver came out in the third and scored on the second of 4 power play chances 5.5 minutes into the stanza to go back up by two at 5-3.
The Chiefs would get back into the game late in the period as Tomasso DeLuca scored his 4th of the season with 3:20 left to bring Spokane back within 5-4. That was as close as the Chiefs would come though as the Giants closed out the game with a power play goal with one second left to hand Spokane their 3rd straight loss with a 6-4 defeat.
The Chiefs outshot Vancouver 38-31 but went 0-7 on the power play and 4-6 on the penalty kill. The most disappointing part of the game was Spokane had chances to take control of the game, only to make mistakes that led to easy Vancouver goals and ultimately, the victory.
Spokane vs Tri City
If there was any good news that came out of the loss, it was Tri City had also lost Wednesday at home to Kamloops to keep the Chiefs within 7 points of the Americans in the standings
Saturday's game at Tri City was a big one for the Chiefs, as a win in regulation could bring Spokane just 5 points behind the Ams in the standings and give the club some big momentum going into Sunday's home game with Everett.
Saturday's contest was the third with Tri City this season and the first visit for the Chiefs to Kennewick. The two clubs had split the first two matchups, with Tri winning the first meeting 4-1, while the Chiefs had snapped their 9 game losing streak with a 7-3 win over the Americans two weeks previously.
Spokane got off to one of its better starts this season down in Kennewick, as the Chiefs put a ton of pressure on the Americans in their own end to start the game. The offensive pressure would pay off as Carter Streek scored net front just 2:53 into the game to put Spokane up 1-0. The lead lasted until the Americans went on their first power play midway through the period. A blown coverage on the left wing left the Ams Parker Bell wide open and he buried the chance just 29 seconds into the power play to even the game at 1-1. Tri City then took advantage of a breakaway chance in the final minute as the Chiefs defense got beat at their own blue line and the Americans took a 2-1 lead into the second period.
Spokane had dominated the period for the most part, outshooting Tri 13-10 in the frame, but still found themselves down one after 20 minutes.
The late goal in the first propelled Tri City into the second as the Americans dominated offensively in the middle stanza. Tri would get all 3 power play chances and outshoot Spokane 14-4, while scoring both goals in the period to assume a commanding 4-1 lead heading into the third.
The Chiefs came out in the third and got back to the way they were playing in the first. Spokane would get 3 of the 4 power play chances in the period and would convert their second as Chase Bertholet scored on Berkly Catton's second assist of the contest just over 7 minutes in to cut the Tri City lead to 4-2.
Despite outshooting Tri 16-6 in the period, that was as close as Spokane would get as the Americans held off the Chiefs for Tri's second win in 3 meetings with Spokane by a final of 4-2.
For the second time this week, the club did a lot of right things, but once again, small mistakes at inopportune times cost Spokane big time as the team fell 9 points back of Tri City for the final playoff spot in the West.
Everett vs Spokane
The Chiefs had one final shot at salvaging the week as they returned home to open a 4 game homestand as they hosted the Everett Silvertips Sunday afternoon. Everett had Saturday off as they had lost at home to Kelowna on Friday. The Silvertips were struggling like the Chiefs, having lost 5 straight coming into Sunday. Spokane had now lost 4 in a row, so someone was going to end their long week of losing with a win Sunday.
Spokane went with Dawson Cowan in net in his first start since his 54-save effort the previous weekend against Calgary. Sunday's game against Everett would not go nearly as well. The Silvertips scored just 1:31 into the game on a rebound net front to jump out to a 1-0 lead. That goal jump-started the Tips to a dominating first period offensively as they would outshoot the Chiefs 17-9 in the period. Everett would add to the lead with a goal off an odd-man rush midway through the period to go up 2-0 after one.
Spokane was hoping that a quick start in the second would get the Chiefs back in the game in the middle frame, but it turns out the exact opposite would take place.
Everett came out on the opening face-off in the second and scored just 9 seconds into the period to go up 3-0. The air in the Chiefs' balloon seemed to go out with that goal by the Silvertips. Everett would score a power play tally just over 7.5 minutes later to take command of the game at 4-0.
The power-play goal would spark a 4-goal explosion from the Tips over the next 3:33 that would blow the game open. Everett forward Austin Roest scored a hat trick in the 5-goal second as the Silvertips put the game away with a 7-0 lead after two periods.
The Tips outshot Spokane 26-8 in the period in one of the worst periods played by the Chiefs this season. The only hope going forward was the Chiefs would come out and play a good third to build some positives going into next weekend.
Fortunately, Spokane was able to do that in the final frame. Ty Cheveldayoff scored back-to-back goals in the first half of the period to get the Chiefs on the board and make the score 7-2. Everett would score their final goal of the night late in the period to make it 8-2, but Chase Bertholet would score with just over 2 minutes left to cap the scoring as Everett wrapped up an 8-3 victory.
Spokane was outshot 47-32 in the contest and was dominated by the Silvertips for the second straight meeting this season. The Chiefs have been outscored 15-6 by Everett in the two games and have lost 14 of the last 15 meetings against Everett.
The Chiefs are now in serious danger of seeing their hopes for making the playoffs end before the first half of the season comes to an end in 3 weeks. Spokane is sitting with just 9 points out of a possible 42 after 21 games and are 10 points back of Kelowna for the 8th and final playoff spot in the West and are 11 points back of Tri City after the Americans beat Seattle on Sunday.
Spokane has 9 games left in the first half, with 3 games at home before a 6 game road trip to the East Division that starts the second week of December.
The month of November was brutal for Spokane as the Chiefs went just 1-8-0-1. The schedule won't get any easier in December as the Chiefs will host Kelowna and Lethbridge in the first weekend of the month Friday and Saturday nights at 7:05 pm.
I'll have the call on 94.1 FM the Bear and 790 AM KJRB on Friday due to Gonzaga basketball and on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA on Saturday with the pre-game shows starting at 6:30 pm.
Let's hope the losing streak ends with the month of December upon us and we hope to see you at the rink!
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