SPOKANE, Wash. — Hard to believe but the first half of the Chiefs season is now in the books as the team heads to the Christmas break having played 33 of their 68-game schedule.
Spokane entered the final week of the first half on a 9-game winning streak, their longest win skein since their 10-game streak in March of 2020. The Chiefs had moved into second place in the U.S. Division, 9 points back of league-leading Everett and 3 points up on third place Tri-City.
The Chiefs finished the first half with 3 games over a 5 game stretch as they traveled back to Seattle for the second time in 5 days, then hosted Prince George and wrapped up on the road at Portland. The team would have to do so without their captain Berkly Catton as he was in Ottawa at Team Canada's training camp preparing for the World Junior Tournament.
The club was still without forwards Dane Pyatt and Owen Martin, who were out with injuries. Spokane did welcome back defenseman Nathan Mayes, who returned after missing the last month with a wrist injury.
After rookie goaltender Carter Esler got the win against Seattle the previous Sunday, Spokane turned to the league's win leader Dawson Cowan in Friday's first game of the week. Cowan had won a league-high 16 coming into Friday's game but the Thunderbirds would score on their first shot of the night just 18 seconds in to jump out to a 1-0 lead.
Spokane took over offensively after that as they would put up 14 shots in the first and would pull even on an Asanali Sarkenov rebound midway through the period to tie the contest at 1-1. Seattle put up just 6 shots in the first but would score on their last shot of the period on a wrap-around with just 21 seconds remaining to take a 2-1 advantage after the opening 20 minutes.
Spokane would come out on the first shift of the second period and tie the game at 2-2 as Saige Weinstein scored his second of the season on a tip of a Sam Oremba shot just 21 seconds into the frame. The Chiefs kept the offensive pressure going throughout the period and would take their first lead as Brody Gillespie scored his 3rd of the year midway through the period to give Spokane a 3-2 lead.
The Chiefs would finish off a 3-goal second as Sarkenov scored his 2nd of the night with a power play tally with 1:03 remaining to put Spokane up 4-2 after two. The Chiefs outshot the Thunderbirds 21-3 in a dominant performance in the second and were 20 minutes from their 10th straight victory.
The Chiefs got a power play opportunity midway through the third with a chance to put the game away, but a turnover behind their own net led to a Seattle short-handed goal to bring the T-Birds within 4-3 with plenty of time remaining.
Spokane and Cowan would shut the door though as the Chiefs held Seattle to just 7 shots in the period and 16 in the game as the team notched their 10th straight win with a 4-3 victory. The win was Spokane's second straight over Seattle during the week and their 3rd in a row in the season series. It turned into an even bigger triumph with first-place Everett losing at home to Wenatchee as the club moved within 7 points of the Silvertips in the U.S. Division.
The club returned home to the Spokane Arena in their next to last game of the first half as they hosted the B.C. Division co-leading Prince George Cougars for the first time this season. Saturday's meeting was the first since the opening weekend of the season in late September which saw the two teams split two games up in PG. The Cougars had won Wednesday night at Tri-City in a shootout but lost 4-1 at Portland the night before facing the Chiefs for the third time this season.
Former Chiefs goaltender Cooper Michaluk got the start for Prince George against his old club and the Cougars would give him a 1-0 lead after one on a goal midway through the opening period.
The Cougars would strike for two goals in the second as they stifled the Chiefs offensively in the middle frame to seize control of the game at 3-0 after two. Spokane would come out in the third and outshoot PG 14-9 in the final period but would not get the puck past Michaluk until Brayden Crampton scored on the power play in the final minute.
The Chiefs 10-game win streak came to an end as Prince George won their second in three meetings with the Chiefs in a 3-1 victory.
The loss dropped Spokane 9 points back of Everett in the division standings after the Silvertips beat Tri-City Saturday. The Americans' loss kept them 3 points back of the Chiefs for second as Spokane hit the road for their final contest of the first half of the season.
The Chiefs headed to Portland to face the Winterhawks for the 4th time this season, but the first visit to the Rose City. Spokane had won all 3 home contests against the Hawks, including a pair of back-of-back wins to end November and to start December. The Chiefs would hit the road without Asanali Sarkenov, who was selected to play for Kazahstan in the World Junior Tournament, giving the Chiefs two players at the tourney.
Spokane would miss both Sarkenov and Berkly Catton, as they came out slow in the first as the Winterhawks put up 2 goals in the first half of the period to jump out to a 2-0 lead.
The Chiefs would get back in the game as Rasmus Ekstrom scored his 14th of the season at 15:18 of the period to make it a 2-1 game after one. Portland would come out and outshoot Spokane 17-5 in the second, but goalie Dawson Cowan stoned every Hawks shot to keep the Chiefs in the game. Ekstrom would score his second of the contest with a power play tally 5:55 into the period to even the game at 2 apiece. The league's leading goal scorer, Shea Van Olm would put home his 27th of the season on a backhander at 17:48 and Spokane had a 3-2 advantage heading to the third.
The third period started about like the first for Spokane as the Winterhawks scored two goals 1:24 apart in the first 3.5 minutes of the period to regain the lead at 4-3. The Chiefs got a two-man advantage on the power play midway through the period and Ekstrom would notch his first career hat trick with his 16th of the season to get Spokane back tied at 4-4.
Portland would answer on the power play as well though, scoring at 14:13 to go back up 5-4. The Chiefs got a man advantage late in the contest and pulled Cowan from the net for a 6-4 advantage, but Portland would get a loose puck out to neutral ice and score a short-handed goal into the empty net with just over a minute left to wrap up their first win over the Chiefs this season with a 6-4 victory.
The first half of the season ended on a down note as Spokane dropped two straight after their 10-game winning streak.
The Chiefs remained in second in the U.S. Division, 9 points back of division-leading Everett and 3 points ahead of 3rd place Tri-City. Spokane will now get 8 days off as they will return after the Christmas holiday with back-to-back games against division rival Wenatchee.
The Chiefs will host the Wild on Friday, Dec. 27 at 7:05 p.m. and then head to Wenatchee for the third time this season on Saturday at 6:05 p.m.
I'll have the call on 103.5 FM for the game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game shows at 6:30 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday. I hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you at the rink to help the Chiefs launch the second half of the season!
