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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Chiefs, Silvertips getting physical as Game 3 looms

Spokane goalie Garret Hughson helped Chiefs even series with a 6-2 victory in Game 2 of the best-of-7 WHL first-round playoff series. (Jesse Tinsley)

What’s shaping up as the Western Conference’s most intriguing first-round playoff series has also been the most contentious.

The Spokane Chiefs and Everett Silvertips piled up infractions and penalty minutes at an astonishing rate through the first two games at Everett’s Xfinity Arena. The Western Hockey League best-of-7 postseason series, matching the second-seeded Silvertips and the seventh- seeded Chiefs, is tied at 1 headed into tonight’s game at the Arena.

The teams combined for 63 penalties for 216 minutes during last weekend’s lopsided games that saw Everett win the opener 5-1 and Spokane take a 6-2 victory in Game 2.

The conference’s other first-round series – Portland vs. Seattle, Kelowna vs. Tri-City and Victoria vs. Prince George – were much quieter through two games. The Portland-Seattle series featured just 12 penalties for 22 minutes. The three series combined had fewer penalties and minutes – 53 infractions for 118 minutes – than those assessed to the Chiefs and Silvertips.

Chiefs captain Jason Fram, who also won the team’s award for most sportsmanlike player, said before Tuesday’s practice at Eagles Ice-A-Rena that the rugged nature of the series is understandable.

“It’s obviously really emotional out there with all the penalty minutes,” Fram said. … “It’s part of the game. Playoffs are an emotional time and it’s really amped up for every game and every shift.”

Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur said after Game 2 that he wasn’t concerned by all the penalties and bad blood.

“The biggest thing is we’ve made a series of it,” Nachbaur said Tuesday. “Now, hopefully, we can take advantage of home ice. But it’s been a really competitive series, hard-hitting, and we expect it to be even more hard-hitting come (tonight).”

The avalanche of penalties placed extra pressure on Spokane goaltender Garret Hughson and his Everett counterparts, Carter Hart and Austin Lotz. Everett is 3 for 15 on power-play chances while the Chiefs are 3 for 13.

“It’s a little crazy, but it’s going both ways and it’s a fun series so far,” Hughson said Tuesday. … “I just try to stop anything that comes my way. I don’t try to worry about what happens in front of me too much.”

“They were similar games in the fact that there was some good goaltending in both games,” Nachbaur said. “On our side, we had one bad period (Friday’s third) and we had some bad breaks. But I think in Game 2 we caught some breaks with some of the goals we scored.”

After earning the No. 1 star Saturday with two goals and one assist, Adam Helewka said the Chiefs must channel that energy in the upcoming games.

“I think (we need) to play the way we did tonight, the last 10 minutes of the first period,” Helewka said. “That’s the way we have to play for 60 minutes and I think we’ll be fine.”

• Silvertips alternate captain Ben Betker, a 20-year-old defenseman, suffered an upper-body injury during the first period of Saturday’s Game 2 and is considered day-to-day.

The 6-foot-6 Betker signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers just before the playoffs started.

“We don’t talk about the other team,” Nachbaur said. “We only worry about us and we’re healthy. That’s all we worry about.”