Dan Weaver

A shutout by a goaltender in his first playoff start and a hometown boy who came back to play the hero. Those were the story lines in the Spokane Chiefs' 2-0 win over the Kelowna Rockets Tuesday night.

If the Spokane Chiefs bounce back as quickly as their coach, they may get a chance to redeem themselves in front of the home crowd this week. Chiefs coach Mike Babcock allowed himself about 10 minutes to stew over a 6-3 home-ice loss to the Kelowna Rockets Sunday night, then turned his energy to tonight's sixth game of the Western Hockey League West Division quarterfinals.

On the brink of elimination. Despite Marian Cisar's efforts on this Chiefs goal to tie the game 3-3 in the second period, Spokane lost to Kelowna 6-3 and now trails the series 3-2. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

While Mike Babcock was shaking up his lines Friday night in a 6-2 win over the Kelowna Rockets, nobody was doing more to to make the experiments work than Derek Schutz. Schutz has been the Chiefs' most valuable forward through the first four games of the Western Hockey League playoffs that resume tonight, Babcock said. The Chiefs and Kelowna Rockets are back at it in Game 5 of their Western Hockey League West Division quarterfinal series at 6 in the Arena.

Spokane's Marian Cisar is upended by Kelowna's Karel Betik, but it was the Rockets who took a tumble as the Chiefs evened the WHL playoff series with a 6-2 win in the Arena. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane goaltender Aren Miller wants to put a stop to losing when the Chiefs resume their series with Kelowna. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review

If three games constitutes a pattern, the Spokane Chiefs are in trouble, and not solely because they trail the Kelowna Rockets 2 games to 1 in their Western Hockey League quarterfinal series. The Rockets lead the series after their 5-2 win here Wednesday night. Two keys coming into this or any other playoff goaltending and special teams are being turned time and again by the Rockets. They're dominant both on the power play and the penalty kill.

Kelowna's Gavin McLeod attempts to cut Marian Cisar of the Spokane Chiefs off at the puck. Photo by Jason Clark/The Spokesman-Review