Chiefs end regular season with victory

KENNEWICK – Although it was meaningless when it comes to playoff implications, the Spokane Chiefs got a win over their rivals in Saturday night’s regular-season finale. Dylan Walchuk scored a power-play goal with just more than 8 minutes left and Spokane held on for a 3-2 win over Tri-City in Western Hockey League play. The Chiefs, whose playoff schedule had already been determined, won for just the fourth time in 12 games against the Americans this season. Spokane’s Mitch Holmberg opened the scoring with a goal less than 2 minutes in. Tri-City’s Patrick Holland knotted the score at 1 with a power-play goal just more than 3 minutes later. Brenden Kichton put Spokane ahead 2-1 later in the first period. Tri-City’s Jesse Mychan scored in the second period to tie the game at 2 before Walchuk’s winner. It was the second straight game in which Walchuk scored a power-play goal. The goal also gave Walchuk 74 points for the season, which leads all WHL defensemen. Chiefs goalie Mac Engel made 30 saves. Next up for Spokane is a seven-game first-round playoff series against the Vancouver Giants. The first game is set for Friday night in Vancouver. Vancouver beat Spokane in both of its regular-season matchups. The Giants won 3-2 in a shootout on Oct. 5 and 2-1 on Feb. 15.