SPOKANE, Wash. — It's hitting that time of the season where teams that want to make the playoffs in the Western Hockey League, they want to start to hit their stride and establish the consistency needed to win more often than not. The Chiefs are hitting that part of the schedule, as the team has just 27 games left in the regular season. Spokane entered the end of January just a point out of the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference and two points back of 7th place Vancouver.
While the Chiefs were in a much better position playoff-wise than last year, the immediate schedule was far from kind. Spokane returned home to the Spokane Arena for the final three games of January, but they would face the top three teams in the West in Prince George, Portland and Everett. It would be a gauntlet for sure for the Chiefs, but they would certainly find out where they stood in relation to the top of the league.
The team was without head coach Ryan Smith, as he was in Korea leading Team Canada in the World Junior Olympics. Leading scorer Berkly Catton and goalie Dawson Cowan played in the NHL Top Prospects game on Wednesday, but were back in Spokane in time for Friday's matchup with Prince George, the top team in the B.C. Division and the Western Conference. Friday night's matchup was the second of the season between the two clubs with the Cougars handling the Chiefs 6-3 in the previous meeting in early December. The Chiefs were coming off a 2-1 win over Wenatchee the previous Saturday while Prince George was coming off a 2-1 loss to Portland the same night.
Catton would make his impact felt just 1:09 into the game as he was credited with his team leading 29th goal of the year as Prince George scored in their own net to make it 1-0 Chiefs. The Cougars would counter with an odd man rush goal midway through the period to even the contest at 1-1. Catton came right back and scored his 2nd of the period at 16:41 to give Spokane a 2-1 advantage heading to the second. Prince George would come back and even the game just over five and a half minutes into the second period on a goal off a face off win. Spokane would counter though as they would convert their first power play of the game midway through the frame as Rasmus Ekstrom scored his 8th of the season to make it 3-2 after two.
Ekstrom would get the Chiefs off to a great start in the third as his shot was tipped by linemate Shea Van Olm into the net 1:33 into the third to put Spokane up 4-2. Prince George would cut the lead to 4-3 on a rebound at 4:52 but the Chiefs would control the third as they outshot PG 20-7 to preserve a 4-3 victory. Spokane outshot the Cougars 43-28 overall and went 1-2 on the power play and a perfect 4-4 on the penalty kill. The win was huge for the Chiefs as they passed Tri City into the 8th and final playoff spot in the West with their 17th win of the season. Spokane's 38 points put them one ahead of the Americans and kept the Chiefs within 2 points of 7th place Vancouver in the West.
Spokane hoped to follow up one of their biggest wins of the season with their second straight game against a CHL top 10 team as Portland visited the Arena the next night. The Winterhawks were coming off a 3-2 win in the Tri Cities the night before to move within two points of first place Everett in the division and conference. The Chiefs were looking for their second straight victory over the Hawks after winning 3-1 in Portland in the final game of the first half of the season in mid-December.
Every team begins a game looking for a good start. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, it was Portland that got the good start on Saturday as the Winterhawks scored on their first power play chance of the contest just 1:56 in to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The Winterhawks scored on their next shift at 2:31 and it was 2-0 Hawks before the crowd of 9,333 was settled in their seats. Portland then scored their second straight power play tally midway through the period and it was 3-0 Winterhawks. Spokane would start to get back in the game when Rasmus Ekstrom scored a power play goal for the second straight night at 17:53 of the period to bring the Chiefs within 3-1 after one.
The Chiefs would score on their second straight power play opportunity on a Brayden Crampton goal 2:36 into the second to narrow the margin to 3-2. Portland answered right back at 4:20 on a James Stefan goal to put the Hawks back up 4-2. Back would come the Chiefs as Berkly Catton scored his team leading 31st of the season midway through the frame to bring Spokane back within one once again at 4-3. Stefan countered with his second of the game at 12:31 to put Portland back up by two at 5-3, but the Chiefs came right back with their 3rd power play goal of the night from Connor Roulette at 15:29 to get back within 5-4 at the end of two periods.
After the two teams combined for 9 goals and 54 shots through two periods, the third period would turn into a defensive slugfest. The two clubs combined for just 11 shots, 6 from Portland, and neither team was able to find the back of the net. The Chiefs got the lone power play of the third, but were unable to generate the tying goal as the Winterhawks held on for a 5-4 victory. Spokane's power play was effective, going 3 for 7 against the 5th rated penalty kill of the Winterhawks, but Portland's 2nd ranked power play went 3 for 4 against the Chiefs penalty kill, which had gone 11 for 11 in its' last two games.
Spokane's modest two game win streak came to an end, but the Chiefs remained in the 8th and final playoff spot after Tri City lost to Prince George on Saturday. Vancouver though gained 3 points on the Chiefs over the weekend and were now 5 up on Spokane for 7th in the West. The Chiefs schedule didn't get any easier as Spokane closed out their 3 game home stand as Everett came to town for the second time in 11 days. The Silvertips last visit resulted in Spokane's worst loss of the season as the Tips drilled the Chiefs 11-1 on January 19th. Spokane was hoping to get a little revenge as they hosted Everett for the final time at the Arena this year.
Tuesday's game would start far better for Spokane as the Chiefs got a 4 minute power play in the first minute of the game. The Chiefs converted as Connor Roulette scored his 30th of the season 3:01 into the contest to make it 1-0 Spokane. Layton Feist then fired home a shot from the blue line 1:35 later to put the Chiefs ahead 2-0. Everett put in a power play goal midway through the first to cut the lead to 2-1. Spokane's Berkly Catton then scored his team leading 32nd of the season at 18:53 to give the Chiefs a two goal advantage at 3-1 but Everett came right back and got within 3-2 when Austin Roest scored with 44 seconds remaining to make it a one goal game heading to the second.
Roest would strike again on a rebound after a Chiefs turnover midway through the second to tie the game at 3-3. The Silvertips took their first lead of the game on a goal off a 4 on 2 rush late in the second to go up 4-3 and would go on the power play at the end of the frame. Spokane would get back in the game as Shea Van Olm took the puck into the Everett zone and scored short handed with only 22 seconds left to tie the game back up at 4-4 heading into the third period
The third period would prove to be decisive as the Silvertips would get Roest's third goal of the night 4 minutes in to take the lead for good at 5-4. Everett would score an insurance goal 3 minutes later and would finish the contest with an empty net tally in the final minute to cap off a 3 goal third as the Silvertips got their 3rd straight win in Spokane this season with a 7-4 victory. The win pushed Everett into a first place tie with Portland in the U.S. Division while the Chiefs remained a point ahead of Tri City for the 8th and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
The Chiefs now get ready for a demanding 3 games in 3 nights stretch over the weekend as the team heads on the road to Everett on Friday and Tri City on Saturday before concluding the weekend at home against Kelowna on Sunday. Friday's game in Everett is a 7:05 pm start, while Saturday's game at Tri City is a 6:05 pm puck drop and Sunday's home game with Kelowna will begin at 5:05 pm. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA for Friday and Sunday's game while Saturday's game is on 94.1 FM the Bear and 790 AM KJRB due to Gonzaga basketball. Pre-game shows start the half hour before the games and we hope to see you at the rink!
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