Cisar Stays Hot As Chiefs Edge Hitmen

Marian Cisar poked home a rebound midway through the third period for his second goal of the game and lifted the Spokane Chiefs to a 4-3 Western Hockey League win over the Calgary Hitmen on Wednesday night in Calgary, Alberta.

The two goals extended Cisar’s goal-scoring streak to seven games, just two short of Brett Gilchrist’s team record of nine, and boosted the Chiefs’ record to 5-3.

Cisar’s first goal, his 11th of the season, came late in the second period on a slap shot from the high slot and tied the game at 3. His game-winner, which came at 11:35 of the final period, was set up by Ty Jones, who had muscled the puck away from Calgary’s Justin Bekkering behind the net and attempted a wrap-around shot that bounced off the pads of goalie Alexandre Fomitchev.

Spokane, 1-1 on its current road trip, jumped to an 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Blake Evans and Justin Ossachuk, but Calgary tied the game on a pair of power-play goals early in the second period and took the lead later in the period when Boris Protsenko wristed a shot past Chiefs goalie Aren Miller.

Spokane plays next at Edmonton on Friday night.

The Tri-City Americans, 0-5-1 on the WHL season, fired head coach Bob Loucks on Wednesday and promoted his assistant, Rick Lanz.

Lanz, a 10-year NHL veteran, was in his first season as an Americans assistant after four years of coaching junior hockey at Surrey, B.C.

, DataTimes