SPOKANE, Wash. — When every team in the Western Hockey League returns to camp every August, the number one goal is to make the playoffs. Just get in. Everything starts all over again as the records and statistics of the regular season are wiped clean and every team starts all over again. The Chiefs were certainly anxious to return to post season play after missing out last season in an abysmal campaign that resulted in just 15 wins in 68 games.
The club certainly did that this season as they doubled the win total with 30 in 2023-24. Spokane got itself in the playoffs as the 8th and final seed in the Western Conference but finished only one point behind 7th seed Victoria and 2 behind 6th place Vancouver. The Chiefs finished the regular season with a workmanlike 6-3 victory over rival Tri City the previous Saturday and now had the chance to catch their breath as they headed into their opening round series against the #1 team in all of the Canadian Hockey League in the Prince George Cougars.
Spokane had ventured North to Prince George the first weekend of March and had split the two game set, winning one in overtime and losing one in OT as well. The Chiefs had third period leads in both games, leading 4-1 in game one and were up 4-2 with 1.5 minutes left in game two. The club could certainly lean on the experience of those games, looking back at the good things that had given them those leads and seeing the mistakes made down the stretch that led to two straight overtime games.
The Chiefs had split the season series as well, going 2-2 overall as the two clubs traded wins on the Chiefs home ice earlier in the year. Prince George had outscored Spokane 18-16 in the four games, but that margin was based on the Cougars 6-3 win in the opener of the series in early December. In that game, Spokane fell behind 5-0 in the second but rallied to within 5-3 after two before falling. The next three games were all one goal affairs, so it was realistic to think it was going to be more of the same as the playoffs started with game one on Friday.
Spokane went with Dawson Cowan in goal in game one as he had won both games against the Cougars this season. The Chiefs would help him early as Connor Roulette stole a pass between the circles in the offensive zone and snapped home his first goal of the playoffs just 3:09 in to give Spokane an early 1-0 lead. The lead didn't last long as the Cougars scored off the rush just 39 seconds later to tie the contest at 1-1. The club suffered a big loss midway through the period when forward Ben Bonni went down with a shoulder injury and had to miss the rest of the game. Prince George would get their first power play late in the frame and would convert as Tarik Parascak scored on a rebound at 15:31 to make it 2-1 Cougars. PG came right back and scored 1:07 later and suddenly carried a 3-1 lead into the second period.
The second would see the Chiefs put Prince George on the power play four times, including a 5 on 3 advantage for 1:37. It was the Parascak show in the middle stanza as the league's leading rookie scorer put home two more goals on the man advantage at 14:30 and at 19:00 to hand the Cougars a commanding 5-1 advantage heading to the third. Prince George was 3-6 on the power play through two and had outshot the Chiefs 32-19 through 40 minutes. Cowan had single handedly kept Spokane in the game through two periods and he would be just as good in the third as he turned away 18 of 19 shots in the final period. Prince George got one last power play goal in the third as they would end the night 4 for 10 on the man advantage. The Cougars out shot Spokane 51-25 in the contest as they skated to an easy 6-1 victory and a 1-0 series lead in the best of 7 set.
Cowan was one of the very few bright spots for Spokane in the opener as his 45 save effort kept the Chiefs from being completely blown out. There was no question the teams inability to stay out of the penalty box was the single biggest factor in the club falling behind in the series. Losing Bonni was a big blow as well, as the team failed to get going offensively after the first period, getting outshot 35-17 over the final 40 minutes. Spokane would get good news as they got Bonni back for game two the following night as they sought to tie the series at 1-1.
Unlike game one, the Chiefs came out and played Prince George tight defensively and only took one penalty in the first 20 minutes. The Cougars broke out to the early lead though as Keaton Dowhaniuk scored his second goal in as many games midway through the period to give Prince George a 1-0 edge heading to the second. As good as things went for Spokane from a defensive aspect in the first, it was the anti-thesis in the second. The Cougars took advantage of a bad pass to score on a 2 on 0 break in the first 2.5 minutes of the period to go ahead 2-0. PG would follow with a power play goal on their first opportunity on the man advantage midway through the frame to take a 3-0 lead. The Cougars then blitzed the Chiefs with 3 goals in 1:13 late in the period to assume a commanding 6-0 lead after two.
Spokane replaced goalie Dawson Cowan with Cooper Michaluk after the Cougars 6th goal and the Chiefs seemed to settle down after that. The Chiefs came out in the third and scored on rookie Owen Martin's first career playoff goal 58 seconds into the stanza to make it 6-1. Spokane came right back and scored on their first power play of the period as Martin's shot was tipped by fellow rookie Hayden Paupanekis at 8:34 to cut the margin to 6-2. The two teams were then on a 4 on 4 after minor penalties 7 seconds apart and the Chiefs converted as defenseman Layton Feist scored at 14:18 to cut the deficit in half at 6-3. Spokane then pulled Michaluk in the final two minutes and the move paid off as Feist scored his second of the game at 18:50 to bring the Chiefs within 6-4. The Chiefs pulled Michaluk again hoping to get within one, but the Cougars sealed the win with an empty netter with 34 seconds left to take a 2-0 series lead with a 7-4 victory in game two.
Despite dropping both games in Prince George, the Chiefs rallied to find their game in the third period in game two and no doubt got some confidence back heading into game 3 Tuesday in Spokane. Getting Bonni back on the ice was a big boost for the club and it will be interesting to see who the Chiefs go with in net in game 3 as Michaluk was perfect in relief of Cowan, who was lights out in game one. Game three is a must win for Spokane as only two teams have come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a 7 game series in WHL history. If Spokane plays with the desperation and smarts they showed in the third period in game two, they stand a good chance of getting back in the series.
The two teams head to Spokane to play potentially three straight games at the Spokane Arena as games 3, 4 and 5 are slated this week at the Arena. Game 3 is set for Tuesday at 7:05 pm, while Wednesday's game 4 is at 6:35 pm due to a Spokane Velocity game being played later that night across the street. Game 5, if it is necessary, is on Friday at 7:05 pm. I'll have the call for all three games on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game shows a half hour prior to the puck drop. The Chiefs haven't won a playoff game since April of 2019, so let's hope the 8 game losing streak in the post season comes to an end this week. We hope to see you at the rink!
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: Search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
Apple TV: Search "Spokane News from KREM" in the Apple store or follow this link.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.