SPOKANE, Wash. — As the Chiefs entered November, they were well ahead of last season's pace in the win-loss department. Spokane was 6-6-2, sitting at the .500 mark, something they had not reached past early October last year. The club was sitting in 6th in the U.S. Division but was just one point back of Seattle in the standings heading into the weekend. Spokane returned home to the Spokane Arena after a two game road trip last week, where they split with a win at Seattle and a one goal loss at Tri City.
The Chiefs opened a five game homestand on Friday, their longest of the season. Spokane welcomed the second team from the East Division to visit the Arena on Friday as the Prince Albert Raiders came to town. The Chiefs had lost their last 3 in a row to Prince Albert and the Raiders had started their road trip with an impressive win at Lethbridge on Wednesday. The victory had moved P.A. into second place in the East and they were now 5-4 on the road this season.
Spokane was without forward Ty Cheveldayoff for the homestand, as he was handed a 5 game suspension from the league for a hit he gave in Tri Cities the previous Saturday. The Chiefs were also without forward Chase Harrington, who was playing at the Under 17 tournament in Canada. The club was sitting at 3-3 on home ice and were hoping to make up some ground in the standings by running off a win streak in front of the home fans. Dawson Cowan got the start in goal and he would be busy in the first period as he turned aside all 15 Raider shots in the frame. Connor Roulette would get Spokane out to a 1-0 lead with a tip of a Chase Bertholet shot at 13:15 and the Chiefs would hold that lead into the second.
Prince Albert would come out in the second and score on their first power play opportunity of the period midway through the stanza to even the game at 1-1. Spokane would answer late in the period as Will McIsaac would score his first goal of the season at 17:03 to give the Chiefs a 2-1 advantage heading to the third. The Raiders would strike quickly in the final frame as Harrison Lodewyk, who had scored one goal all season, scored his second at 2:40 of the period to tie the contest at 2-2. Lodewyk then doubled his season total with his second of the period at 14:19 to give the Raiders their first lead of the night at 3-2.
The Chiefs out shot the Raiders 10-6 in the third and had a great chance in the final seconds to tie by Owen Martin's backhand was stymied by Prince Albert goalie Max Hildebrand to preserve the Raiders 4th straight win against the Chiefs in their season series with a 3-2 victory. It was Spokane's second straight loss and dropped the Chiefs home record under .500 at 3-4 on the year. The club remained a point back of Seattle for 5th in the division, but Spokane was now 11 points back of first place Portland just 15 games into the season. The Chiefs had little time to mourn the loss as they welcomed Kamloops to the Arena the very next night.
The Blazers were celebrating their first road win of the year as they shutout Tri City 3-0 the previous night in Kennewick. It was Kamloops first shutout of the season and they were anxious for their first win over the Chiefs as the two clubs met for the third time this season. Spokane had won their season opener in overtime at Kamloops and then had won a one goal decision in game 6 of the year in early October. Cooper Michaluk got the start in goal and the Chiefs helped him out right away as Owen Martin tipped in a Layton Feist shot on Spokane's first power play 4:03 into the game to jump out to a 1-0 lead. Kamloops came right back and scored on their first power play 1:44 later to send the game to the second period all tied at one.
Spokane would come out in the second and re-take the lead as Berkly Catton scored from his knees in front of the net 4.5 minutes into the period to make it 2-1 Chiefs. That lead would hold until the final 2 minutes of the period when Connor Roulette scored his team leading 14th of the season at 18:10 to give Spokane a 3-1 edge heading to the third period. After coughing up a third period lead the night before against Prince Albert, Spokane was hoping to not repeat history Saturday. Unfortunately, the Blazers had other ideas. Dylan Sydor, who scored the power play tally in the first, added his second goal of the night 3:12 into the third to bring Kamloops within 3-2. Sydor wasn't done as he notched the hat trick at 11:46 to bring the Blazers even at 3-3.
It looked like the Chiefs may repeat history from the night before, but Catton would see to it Spokane would not let that happen as the second year center scored his second of the night at 13:10 to give the Chiefs a 4-3 lead. Catton's goal would turn out to be the game winner, as Martin notched his first career multi-goal game just 1:03 later on another deflection that trickled over the goal line to give Spokane a 5-3 advantage. Chase Bertholet would cap off the three goal third with an empty net marker at 17:23 to wrap up a 6-3 Chiefs victory. The win was Spokane's third straight over Kamloops this season, clinching the 5 game season series for the Chiefs.
The team has split the first two games of their season long 5 game home stand and they will now get most of the week off before having another two game weekend set at the Spokane Arena. Spokane will welcome the Wenatchee Wild for the first time to the Arena on Saturday at 6:05 pm before welcoming back Kamloops for their third and final visit to Spokane on Sunday at 5:05 pm. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game shows at 5:30 pm Saturday and 4:30 pm Sunday. Let's hope the Chiefs can build off their latest win and we hope to see you at the rink!
