The past two weeks of the season have seen the Chiefs enjoy being in their own beds as they hosted three straight games at home. The enjoyment of all that home cooking though has been spoiled by three straight losses as the team had gone from a tie for first to a tie for 4th over those 3 games. Spokane was now 8 points back of first place Portland in the U.S. Division after the Chiefs 5-2 loss last Sunday and the road to snapping the 3 game skid would not get any easier as the team embarked a challenging 3 games in 3 nights stretch over the past weekend.
First up would be the 2nd place club in the Central Division, the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Tigers, who finished with the worst record in the league last season, have bounced back nicely this year. Medicine Hat was at the .500 mark at 3-3-1 and were an impressive 2-1-1 on their U.S. Division swing as they wrapped up their trip with the Chiefs Friday night at the Arena. The Tigers came into the contest with the best power play unit in the league, scoring at a 33% clip while the Chiefs had the league's worst penalty kill at just 52.4%. Spokane's goal on Friday was to stay out of the penalty box and get off to a better start on the scoreboard than they had their previous 3 games.
Spokane would do just that as they would score on their first power play of the game as Ty Cheveldayoff netted a power play tally just over 4 minutes into the game to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead. Just 1:04 later, Chase Bertholet scored off the rush to put Spokane up 2-0. Medicine Hat would get 4 power play chances in the first period and would convert their second midway through the frame to cut the lead in half at 2-1 at the end of the first. The Tigers would even the game at 2-2 on a goal just over 6 minutes into the second period, but the Chiefs would respond with a Saige Weinstein goal midway through the period to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.
Medicine Hat would score 4 minutes into the third to tie the game back up at three, but the Spokane power play would be the difference in the third, and ultimately, the game. Berkly Catton would take a face off and score just 4 seconds into the Chiefs first power play of the period midway through the third to re-take the lead at 4-3. It would turn out to be the game winner. Spokane would score a huge insurance goal late in the third when Blake Swetlikoff scored his first of the season after a great play off the end wall from Ty Cheveldayoff to make it 5-3. Kooper Gizowski then wrapped up the win with the Chiefs second power play goal of the period in the waning seconds to secure the Chiefs first home win of the season with a 6-3 victory.
Spokane's power play went a season best 3 for 5, while the Chiefs penalty kill went 4 for 5 against the league's top power play. It was the team's best 60 minute effort of the year and was a great start to the three games in three nights that awaited the Chiefs. Next up would be the Tri City Americans, who would pay their first visit to Spokane this season. The Americans had been struggling over the last week, having dropped back to back games to Medicine Hat and Kamloops by a combined 18-4 margin. When it comes to the rivalry between these two teams though, you could throw all of the previous outings out the door.
Things would start well for the Chiefs Saturday as Spokane would convert their first power play chance of the night when Raegan Wiles scored at 8:21 of the first period to put the Chiefs up 1-0. Tri City would come right back though as they would score on their first two power play opportunities later in the frame to take a 2-1 lead heading into the second. The second period would be the difference making stanza on this night, as Tri would score two goals in the first half of the period to assume a commanding 4-1 lead. Spokane would outshoot the Americans 17-5 in the second but would be unable to get a puck past Ams goalie Tomas Suchanek as Tri City took a three goal lead into the third.
In the third period, the Chiefs would out shoot the Americans 12-5, but would fail to convert their 2 power play chances, going 0-4 over the final 40 minutes on the man advantage. Suchanek turned away 44 shots in a 4-1 Tri City victory, as the Chiefs ended up outshooting the Americans 45-20 in the game, but lost their 4th home game in 5 tries to start the season. Things would not get any easier for the Chiefs as they boarded the bus right after the loss to head to Everett to take on the defending division champion Silvertips. Everett had been crushed 11-3 the night before at home against rival Seattle, so the Tips were not going to be in a good mood heading into Sunday's tilt.
Everett had owned the Chiefs in last season's series, winning 12 of 13 from Spokane, with the Chiefs only win coming in the final meeting between the two when Spokane scored 10 seconds into overtime to pick up a 3-2 win at home on April 6th. The Silvertips outscored Spokane 65-27 over the 13 games as the Chiefs only managed 4 points out of a possible 26 with their season ending win and two overtime losses at home. On the road in Everett, Spokane had lost all 6 by multi goal results. The Chiefs hoped to change that in their final game of the three in three weekend. Just like the night before, Spokane took an early 1-0 lead as Ty Cheveldayoff scored on a rebound of a Berkly Catton shot 6:50 into the game. The lead would be short lived as a turnover at center ice would lead to a Ben Hemmerling breakaway goal just 16 seconds later to bring Everett even at 1-1. Everett's Jackson Berezowski would begin a big night offensively with a tip net front at 13:40 to give the Silvertips a 2-1 lead after one.
The second period was the decisive period Saturday against Tri City and it would be on this night in Everett. Berezowski took over the game in the middle frame as he scored just 34 seconds into the period to make it 3-1. He then followed with a goal he batted out of mid-air and in the net midway through the second to put Everett up 4-1 after two. The Silvertips put the game away early in the third as Aiden Sutter scored just 19 seconds into the final period to give the Tips a 5-1 advantage. Ryan Hofer then scored on the power play at 4:12 to put the game away at 6-1. Kooper Gizowski tallied a power play goal for Spokane at 11:42 to make it a 6-2 game. The Chiefs then got a 4 minute power play on a double minor penalty for high sticking from Everett, but instead of getting back in the game, Hofer then scored on a breakaway shorthanded for his second goal of the period at 14:40 to put Everett up 7-2. The Chiefs Chase Bertholet closed out the scoring with a great individual effort in the final 2 minutes to bring the Chiefs within 7-3, but that was as close as Spokane got as they dropped their second straight game over the weekend with the 7-3 defeat.
The Chiefs are now 3-5 on the season, tied with Tri City for 4th with 6 points and 8 back of the division tri leaders in Seattle, Portland and Everett. It's certainly starting to shape up that Spokane will be fighting for a playoff spot at the end of the season as it's becoming clear the Chiefs don't have the horses to contend at the top of the division. Spokane put up 73 shots on goal over their last 2 games, yet scored just 4 goals in the losses to Tri City and Everett. The schedule isn't going to get any easier either, as the team will play the defending conference champion Seattle Thunderbirds in Spokane's only game of the week on Saturday in Seattle. The following weekend sees Spokane face the conference runner ups in Kamloops in a home and home. The Chiefs are going to be hard pressed to avoid a 5 game losing streak to end October at this rate. I'll have the call for Saturday's game on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA from Seattle with the pre-game show at 5:30 pm and the puck drop at 6:05 pm. Let's hope the Chiefs find some success getting their team game in better shape and we hope to see you on the radio!
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