SPOKANE, Wash. — Embarking on their longest road trip of the season, the Chiefs were sitting in first place in the Western Hockey League's U.S. Division. With 6 games in 10 days awaiting them, the club was hoping to maintain their standing in the division as well as build a good foundation through the first month of the regular season. Spokane went through the first half of the trip 2-1, with wins at Prince Albert and Regina, while suffering a tough 1-goal loss at Saskatoon.
The Chiefs emerged in the first part of the trip still in first place, tied with Everett with 14 points. Spokane then began the back half of the journey with 3 games in 4 nights, starting on Tuesday against the defending league champion Moose Jaw Warriors. Moose Jaw dealt Everett their only loss in their 6-game trip East the week before and had crushed Spokane in last year's meeting at the Spokane Arena by a 12-3 score.
Rookie netminder Carter Esler would pick up his third start of the season for the Chiefs in Tuesday's contest. Spokane would help him immediately as Hayden Paupanekis would score a goal in his second straight game, and his third of the season just 2:23 in to put the Chiefs up 1-0. Smyth Rebman then followed on a rebound of a Saige Weinstein shot at 4:40 to make it 2-0 Spokane. Moose Jaw would cut the lead in half with a rebound past Esler with less than 4 minutes left in the period to send the game to the second with the Chiefs up 2-1.
In the second, Berkly Catton snapped home his second goal in 3 games and third of the season at 3:38 to put the Chiefs ahead 3-1. Moose Jaw came right back and scored 13 seconds later to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Spokane's Mathis Preston scored unassisted at 5:40 to put the Chiefs back up by two at 4-2. Rebman would score his second of the night at 17:21 to give Spokane a 5-2 advantage. The team's leading scorer, Shea Van Olm, then ripped home his team-leading 9th of the year at 18:45 as the Chiefs took a commanding 6-2 lead into the third.
Preston would strike for his second of the game only 1:13 into the third, scoring on a rebound of a Paupanekis wrap-around attempt to extend the margin to 7-2. Moose Jaw fought back with 2 goals just 26 seconds apart midway through the period to get within 7-4 but the Chiefs shut down the Warriors from there as Spokane won their 3rd game in 4 attempts on the Eastern trip with the 7-4 victory. Esler picked up his second career win with 27 saves and picked up an assist to boot, while Preston's line scored 6 points and Rebman's scored 5 to lead the offense.
The win propelled the Chiefs to the top of the U.S. Division, the Western Conference, and the WHL itself with 16 points, two up on Everett and one ahead of Saskatoon. Spokane hoped to build on that advantage and they were back on the bus the next day for the trek to Manitoba to meet the East's second-place team, the Brandon Wheat Kings. Brandon had started the year red-hot with 4 straight wins but had cooled with 4 straight losses heading into Wednesday's matchup. The Chiefs had got off to a quick start in Moose Jaw the night before but that would not be the case in Brandon. The Wheat Kings would strike for 3 goals in the opening period as Brandon would hold a 3-0 lead after the first 20 minutes.
The Chiefs would come out a different club in the second as Berkly Catton found Rasmus Ekstrom for his 5th of the year just 21 seconds into the frame to bring Spokane within 3-1. Catton was back it just under 4 minutes later as he sent a nifty feed net front to Chase Harrington, who scored his first of the season at 4:17 to make it a 3-2 contest. Just 56 seconds later, Catton found Harrington again and the second-year forward snapped home his second of the game to get the Chiefs even at 3-3. Spokane controlled most of the second but Brandon went on the rush in the final minute and scored to take a 4-3 lead into the third.
That goal lifted the Wheat Kings into the final period as they would score on a power play chance just 27 seconds into the third to go up 5-3. Spokane had a chance to get within one on the power play midway through the third but Brandon would put the game away with a short-handed goal at 13:52 to hand the Chiefs their 2nd loss in 5 games on the Eastern swing with a 6-3 victory. Spokane went 0-4 on the power play and have failed to score on the man advantage in their last 10 attempts in their last 3 games. The Chiefs were hoping to get things going early in the game as well as on the power play as they headed to Swift Current to face the Broncos in the final game of the nearly 2-week road trip.
Spokane had lost 3 of their last 4 visits to Swift Current, including an 8-4 drubbing in early January. The Broncos were coming off a 6-3 home loss to Everett the previous Saturday, so they were well-rested and hungry to redeem themselves. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, Friday's game in Swift would resemble the game in Brandon in the first. The Broncos scored on a wraparound 3:38 into the game to jump out to a 1-0 lead. A short-handed goal at 14:05 turned the period in Swift's favor as they would score two more goals over the final 4 minutes of the period to assume a commanding 4-0 advantage after the opening 20 minutes.
The Chiefs would turn the game in their favor in the shots department in the second, getting 18 shots compared to 10 for the Broncos in the middle frame, but Swift Current got the only goal on a power play tally midway through the period to take a 5-0 lead into the third. In the third, the Chiefs outshot the Broncos 12-6 but failed to get any of their 38 shots past goalie Reid Dyck as Spokane was shut out for the first time this season in a 5-0 defeat. The Chiefs finished 3-3 on their Eastern road trip, a disappointment after winning 3 of 4 to start the journey.
The club is still in first place in the U.S. Division with 16 points as the Chiefs head home to the Spokane Arena to open a 4-game home stand Friday, October 25th with the Vancouver Giants. The Tri-City Americans return for their second trip to Spokane this season the following night on Saturday the 26th. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM for the Game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game show at 6:30 pm against Vancouver with the puck drop at 7:05 pm, and the pre-game at 5:30 pm and the puck drop at 6:05 pm against Tri-City. After just over 12 days on the road, the Chiefs will be excited to be back in front of the home fans and we certainly hope to see you at the rink!
