Williams, Fiddler pace Chiefs

CRANBROOK, British Columbia – Todd Fiddler scored his team-high 25th goal and Eric Williams recorded his second shutout of the season Friday as the Spokane Chiefs edged the Kootenay Ice 1-0 at Western Financial Place. The Chiefs, who hadn’t played since Dec. 18, played their first 1-0 game of the season and notched their third shutout. Williams stopped 29 shots for his first win since Dec. 5 at Saskatoon. Williams’ other shutout was a 5-0 home win over Everett on Nov. 3. Williams had to preserve the shutout by fighting off a 5-on-3 Kootenay power play for 1 minute, 11 seconds of the final period. Fiddler’s fourth winning goal of the season came with 1:42 left in the second period, off a turnover in Kootenay’s zone. Fiddler gathered the puck and fired a shot from the right wing for his 41st point of the season. Ice goalie Mackenzie Skapski otherwise stopped 24 of 25 shots. Spokane finished 0 for 3 on the power play while Kootenay was 0 for 4. Spokane had lost three of its previous four games heading into the holiday break. It was the first meeting of the season between the Chiefs (24-10-1-0, 49 points) and the Ice (10-24-1-0), who have lost four straight. The teams meet again tonight at the Arena. Spokane improved to 7-2-0-0 against Eastern Conference teams and 11-6-1-0 on the road.