Giants take big first step
There was no denial from Bill Peters or any of the Spokane Chiefs.
The Chiefs didn’t bring a disciplined game and the result wasn’t pretty.
Tyson Sexsmith stopped 26 shots and Michal Repik finished with a goal and an assist as the Vancouver Giants handed the Chiefs a 4-1 loss on Friday night in Western Hockey League playoff action in front of 5,748 fans at the Arena. The Giants lead the best-of-7 Western Conference semifinal 1-0, with Game 2 set to take place Sunday night. The series heads to Vancouver for Games 3, 4 and 5 (if a fifth is necessary).
“I didn’t think we did a very good job of establishing body position in any of the three zones tonight. I thought we got outworked,” said Chiefs coach Bill Peters. “We took too many penalties and didn’t support the puck very well.”
The Chiefs gave the Giants six power-play opportunities, which resulted in two goals. That included nearly two full minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage for Vancouver 1 minute and 16 seconds into the game.
Goalie Dustin Tokarski and the Chiefs’ penalty killers came up big as Spokane dodged that bullet.
“Sometimes you’re not ready for a power play that quick in the game,” said Vancouver coach Don Hay. “We made some good plays, but their goalie made some good saves.”
The defending Memorial Cup champion Giants drew first blood in the second period, scoring their first goal 1:34 into the middle stanza when Spencer Machacek tapped in the rebound of a Lance Bouma shot from the right boards. They extended their lead to 2-0 at 17:23 when Evander Kane shoved in a wraparound power-play goal between Tokarski – who finished with 27 saves – and the right post.
Sexsmith stopped two prime Spokane opportunities midway through the period, the first on Levko Koper’s shorthanded breakaway and again when Jared Spurgeon received the puck fresh out of the penalty box to go 1-on-1 with the sharp San Jose Sharks prospect.
“They found a way to get on the board early,” said Peters. “We had the breakaway with Koper and Spurgeon coming out of the box … we had some looks at the net, but just not on a consistent basis.”
Mario Bliznak fired in a backhanded top shelf goal 3:18 into the third to increase Vancouver’s lead to 3-0 before Spokane’s Trevor Glass netted a power-play goal from the slot at 6:31 during a 5-on-3 advantage for the Chiefs.
Michal Repik scored the final goal of the night at the end of another 5-on-3 Vancouver advantage at 10:47.
Bottom line: The Chiefs will have to play better if they hope to split the home front of the series.
“We didn’t have the work ethic we would have liked,” said Chiefs defenseman Justin Falk. “I don’t want to say we were overconfident, but we got what we deserved, I guess I’d say. We’ve got to lay it on the line on Sunday. We really have to start denying their transition and speed. We coughed up the puck too many times in the neutral zone and it hurt us.
“We’re going to be better on Sunday.”
Ice chips
Spokane’s Ryan Letts (F), Blake Gal (F), Brett Bartman (D) and Jace Coyle (D) were healthy scratches. … Brent Regner assisted on three Giants goals.