SPOKANE, Wash. — It had been 3 weeks, but it felt like forever since the Chiefs had played on their home ice at the Spokane Arena.
Spokane returned home after splitting their 6 game road trip through the Western Hockey League's Eastern Division and the club was sitting in second place in the U.S., two points back of division-leading Everett. The team was returning home to open a 4-game home stand to close out October and bring in November and was hoping to keep their home record spotless after starting the season with a 3-0 mark in front of the home fans.
The Chiefs welcomed Asanali Sarkenov back to the lineup after he had to sit the entire Eastern trip in Spokane until his visa issues getting into Canada were sorted out.
He has now been cleared to head North of the border for the rest of the season, which is certainly good news for Spokane. The club also added to their forward depth as the Chiefs acquired winger Sam Oremba from Regina for a pair of draft picks. Oremba, who started his career in Seattle, will bring a lot of playoff experience from his days as a Thunderbird and will be a good veteran leader in the locker room.
After having most of the week off to rest, recover and practice, the Chiefs would have just two games to worry about this week as they hosted two teams playing well in Vancouver and Tri-City on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
First up was the Vancouver Giants, coached by former Chiefs head coaches Manny Viveiros and Adam Maglio. Vancouver was coming off a disappointing overtime loss in Wenatchee in their last game but had moved into third in a tight B.C. Division race behind the league's leading power play.
Spokane would take the home ice Friday night looking like a team that was thrilled to be back as the club scored on its' very first shift as leading goal scorer Shea Van Olm scored on a rebound 44 seconds into the game to give the Chiefs a quick 1-0 lead.
Chase Harrington would add to the margin with his 3rd of the season at 2:22 to put Spokane up 2-0. Vancouver would cut the lead in half midway through the period but the Chiefs would lead it 2-1 heading to the second. The Giants would tie the contest at 2-2 on an odd-man rush goal at 7:16, but Spokane countered with a Van Olm power-play goal at 12:09 to re-take the lead 3-2 heading into the third.
Vancouver would tie the game at 3:40 of the third period after the Chiefs had an Owen Martin goal waved off early in the period that would have given Spokane a 4-2 advantage. With the game tied, the two teams would battle their way through a penalty-free frame to send the Chiefs to their first overtime contest since the season opener in Prince George.
Spokane would get a power play opportunity just 45 seconds into the extra period and they would take advantage as Rasmus Ekstrom notched his third point of the night and 6th goal of the season with a snipe from the right circle at 1:23 to give the Chiefs their 4th straight home win with a 4-3 overtime victory.
The Chiefs remained 2 points back of division-leading Everett after the Silvertips won their home game over Edmonton on Friday.
Spokane was right back at it on home ice Saturday as they welcomed the division rival Tri-City Americans for the second time this season. The Chiefs had won the first meeting in the teams' home opener in late September, but the Americans had ripped off 5 straight wins entering the contest, moving within a point of third place Portland in the division. Spokane would see Sam Oremba make his debut in Saturday's game as he hoped to get out to a quick start with his new club.
After their quick start the previous night, the Chiefs hoped to do the same Saturday, but a bad bounce off the end wall led to Tri-City scoring an easy goal net front just 1:29 into the game to take a 1-0 lead into the second period.
Spokane would come out and dominate the second as they would outshoot the Americans 19-5. The Chiefs would tie the game on a Berkly Catton short-handed goal 5:10 into the second period and then Catton would score his second just 1:15 later to give Spokane a 2-1 lead.
The Chiefs would hold that advantage until late in the frame when the Americans would score on their second power play of the period with just 3 seconds remaining on it to tie the game at 2-2 with 1:37 left. Tri would take advantage of a Chiefs turnover and score off an odd-man rush with only 21 seconds to go in the second to take a 3-2 lead heading to the third.
The go-ahead goal was devastating for Spokane on two fronts as the team not only had dominated the middle 20 but not found themselves having to play from behind.
The Americans also took the momentum into the third and they would carry that into their third straight goal just 3:34 into the final period to go up 4-2. Despite outshooting the Ams 15-8 in the third, the Chiefs could muster nothing offensively against Tri-City goalie Nathan Preston, the older brother of Chiefs forward Mathis.
Tri City would cap the come-from-behind win with an empty net goal in the final 2 minutes to secure their 6th straight victory with a 5-2 win. Spokane outshot Tri 43-21 overall but lost their 3rd game in their last 4 outings as the Americans moved into third place in the division, just 3 points back of the Chiefs for second. The Chiefs meantime fell 4 points back for first place Everett as the Silvertips rallied from a 4-1 deficit to beat Wenatchee 5-4 Saturday.
Spokane will now prepare for 3 games in 4 nights this week as they host Edmonton Wednesday and division rival Portland Friday before heading to Tri-City for a re-match with the Americans on Saturday.
I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA with the pre-game shows at 6:30 pm Wednesday and Friday and at 5:30 pm Saturday.
Puck drops are set for 7:05 p.m. Wednesday and Friday from the Spokane Arena and 6:05 p.m. from the Tri-Cities. Let's hope the Chiefs can get back on their team game and start to work their way back up the standings. We hope to see you at the rink!
