Spokane Chiefs cruise past Victoria

VICTORIA, B.C. – Liam Stewart scored a pair of shorthanded goals and the Spokane Chiefs cranked up the offense over the final two periods to romp to a 6-1 victory over the Victoria Royals in Western Hockey League play on Wednesday. After the two teams played a scoreless first period Spokane found the net three times in both the second and third periods to turn the game into a rout. The victory pulls the Chiefs (34-22-4-3, 75 points) within one point of Vancouver for fourth place in the Western Conference standings. Blake Gal put the Chiefs up 1-0 at 6:32 in the second with his 14th goal of the season. Stewart’s first tally of the night stretched the lead to 2-0 at 15:15 and Brenden Kichton’s 14th goal of the season made it 3-0 just 86 seconds later. Stewart’s second goal and 14th of the year came at 9:46 in the third and made it 4-0. Mike Aviani found the net at 11:44 and Dominik Uher’s 28th goal capped the scoring for Spokane at the 16:44 mark. Steven Hodges ruined goalie Mac Engel’s shutout bid at 12:52 in the third.