SPOKANE, Wash. — After dropping a 7-2 decision at home to Calgary in mid-November, the Chiefs had ripped off three straight wins; including two in a row on the road at division leading Everett and at Vancouver. The three-game win streak kept Spokane within five points of second place Tri City in the U.S. Division and 10 back of division leading Everett. The Chiefs returned home to host a three-game home stand as they welcomed Kamloops and Portland to the Spokane Arena.
The Chiefs would have to do so without forwards Owen Martin and leading scorer Shea Van Olm as well as defenseman Nathan Mayes, who were all out with injuries. First up were the Blazers, who had defeated Spokane 4-2 in Kamloops on November 8th. The Chiefs led that game 2-0 early in the second before Kamloops put up four unanswered goals to take the first game of the five-game season series.
The Blazers looked determined to make it two in a row over Spokane as they would score a short-handed goal on Spokane's first power play of the game to take a 1-0 lead just over three minutes into the game. The Chiefs would bounce back as Berkly Catton scored his 11th of the year midway through the period to tie the game at one. It appeared Spokane took a 2-1 advantage at the end of the frame on a Mathis Preston breakaway but the goal was wiped away on video review because it was ruled to have crossed the goal line after the clock hit zero.
The non-goal didn't affect the Chiefs in the second as Spokane would convert their first power play of the middle period as Smyth Rebman scored his 7th of the season at 5:24 to give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead. Rebman's linemate Rasmus Ekstrom would score at 9:26 to put Spokane up 3-1 but the Blazers countered with a goal in the final minute and a half of the stanza to cut the Chiefs lead to 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Spokane came out in the third and dominated from start to finish, outshooting the Blazers 17-8 in the final 20 minutes. Chiefs rookie Asanali Sarkenov scored the team's second power-play goal 3.5 minutes into the period to put Spokane up 4-2. Preston would notch his first official goal of the night on a great give-and-go with Catton at 9:31 to give the Chiefs control of the game at 5-2. Rebman would score the Chiefs' third power-play goal of the night and his second of the game on a tip of a Brayden Crampton shot 2:01 later to wrap up Spokane's fourth straight win with a 6-2 victory.
The win drew Spokane within three points of second place Tri-City and put the Chiefs nine back of first place Everett as the team welcomed Portland to the Arena for the final time this season with back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday. Spokane won the first meeting of the year back on November 1 when the Chiefs scored three in the third to overcome a 2-1 deficit to take a 4-2 victory. The Chiefs put up 50 shots in that win, a season-high. The club would look for their fifth straight win overall and second in a row over the Winterhawks on Saturday.
The team got good news as their leading goal scorer Shea Van Olm was back in the lineup for the weekend series with the Hawks. Spokane was hoping for a quick start against a Portland team playing their third game in four nights and they would get exactly that as Sam Oremba scored on a rebound net front after a scramble 6:55 into the game to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Spokane went on the power play nine seconds later and just seven seconds into the man advantage, Berkly Catton scored his 12th of the year to put the Chiefs up 2-0 after one period.
Rookie Asanali Sarkenov scored in his second straight game on a tip of a Will McIsaac shot midway through the second to extend the Chiefs lead to 3-0. Portland broke through with a power play goal late in the second to spoil goalie Dawson Cowan's shutout bid to cut the margin to 3-1 Spokane after two. Portland would pull their goalie in the final three minutes of the third but rookie Mathis Preston would score into an empty net at 17:48 to give the Chiefs a comfortable 4-1 lead. Sarkenov would wrap a 5-1 victory with his second of the game with nine seconds remaining as the Chiefs secured their second straight win over Portland and their season-high 5th in a row overall.
The Chiefs extended their lead over Portland for third place in the division to six points and moved back within three points of Tri-City for second in the U.S. after the Americans lost to Wenatchee Saturday. Spokane looked to finish off the week with their third straight home win and hoped to start December on a winning note after going 8-3 in November. Sunday's meeting was the last game the Winterhawks would play in Spokane this season and the Chiefs had a chance to move within a point of Tri-City for second with a victory.
Sunday's contest would see the Winterhawks jump out on the Chiefs as Portland would score two goals in the first 7.5 minutes of the game to go up 2-0 midway through the first. The two teams went on a four-on-four after matching minor penalties late in the first and Chiefs defenseman Saige Weinstein would get Spokane back in the contest with his first goal of the season at 18:27 to make it a 2-1 game. The Chiefs then got a power play chance just under a minute later and leading goal scorer Shea Van Olm would score his team-high 22nd of the year with just seven seconds left in the period to send the game to the second all tied at 2-2.
Spokane would get a power-play opportunity early in the second and would score their second power-play goal in three chances when Sam Oremba scored for the second straight game at 8:29 to give the Chiefs a 3-2 advantage. Portland would answer right back with a power play goal of their own 1:02 later to even the contest once again at 3-3. Another four-on-four situation would arrive later in the second and for the second straight time the Chiefs would convert as defenseman Owen Schoettler scored his fourth of the season at 13:01 to give Spokane the lead for good at 4-3. Van Olm would be awarded a penalty shot with four minutes left in the period and he would score his second of the game to put the Chiefs up 5-3 at the end of the second.
Portland would come out in the third and score just over three minutes into the period to cut the deficit back to one at 5-4. Chiefs captain Berkly Catton would score his 13th of the year midway through the period on a shot from the left goal line to put Spokane back up 6-4. Hayden Paupanekis would seal the Chiefs 6th straight win with an empty net goal with 30 seconds left as Spokane secured their second straight win over Portland in as many nights with a 7-4 victory. The Chiefs won all three meetings with Portland in Spokane this season to ensure a split of the season series and the Chiefs improved their record to 18-9, just 12 wins short of their 30 from all of last season.
The team has now won a season-high six straight, passing the previous high of five set during the end of September and beginning of October. Spokane moved within one point of idle Tri-City for second in the division and nine behind division-leading Everett.
Spokane will go into the first week of December with their first three games in three nights stretch of the season as they will play a home and home with Wenatchee starting Friday night at 7 pm in Wenatchee and then returning to Spokane for the annual Teddy Bear toss night on Saturday at 6:05 pm.
The Chiefs then head back on the road Sunday to Seattle to face the Thunderbirds at 5:05 pm. I'll have the call for every game on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game shows at 6:30 pm Friday, 5:30 pm Saturday and Sunday at 4:30 pm. Let's hope the Chiefs keep up the streak and we hope to see you at the rink!
