Chiefs topple Silvertips again
Spokane takes 13th win in last 15 games
EVERETT – If the Western Hockey League regular season ended today, the Everett Silvertips would open the playoffs against the Spokane Chiefs.
That’s probably not good news for Everett.
Drayson Bowman scored his team-best 27th and 28th goals Wednesday night to lead the Chiefs to a 5-2 win over the Silvertips at Comcast Arena.
Spokane (35-16-0-3) is 6-1 this season against Everett (23-25-7-2).
The Chiefs, with 18 games left in the regular season, are currently the No. 3 team in the Western Conference. Everett stands in sixth place.
Spokane (73 points) picked up ground on U.S. Division-leading Tri-City (79 points), which was idle.
The Chiefs are one of the league’s hottest teams, having won 13 of their last 15 games.
Spokane’s Mike Reddington had a career-high three-point night, with one goal and two assists. His goal, at 5 minutes, 23 seconds of the third period, was especially vital because the Silvertips had cut the Chiefs’ advantage to 3-2.
Reddington, Levko Koper, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Roman all had two assists for the Chiefs.
Spokane’s Dustin Tokarski, the league leader in goals-against average, made 35 saves for his 25th win of the season.
The Chiefs gave Tokarski a 2-0 lead before the 8-minute mark. Mitch Wahl scored his 25th goal just 28 seconds in, and Justin McCrae scored on a power play at 7:32.
Taylor Ellington’s power-play goal at 14:11 halved the Chiefs’ lead.
The second period had nearly expired when Roman and Reddington set up Bowman at 19:51 for a 3-1 Spokane edge.
Everett’s Byron Froese scored his 16th goal at 1:38 of the third period. Kellan Tochkin picked up his team-best 46th assist and 62nd point on the play.
Koper and Johnson set up the big goal by Reddington, just his second of the season.
Bowman, with an assist from Roman, gave Spokane extra insurance at 10:51.
Spokane plays at Portland on Friday night before returning home to the Arena on Saturday night for a game against the Edmonton Oil Kings.