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

Calder Brooks scores twice to lead Chiefs over Silvertips

It’s difficult to measure how much the Spokane Chiefs have missed forward Calder Brooks. But try two goals and one assist, which is what Brooks accounted for on Wednesday as the Chiefs snapped a three-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over Western Hockey League U.S. Division-leading Everett at the Arena. Or try 6-12-0-1, the Chiefs’ record when Brooks missed seven weeks with a head and neck injury that was slow to heal. “He’s an important guy,” Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur said. “We know that. He’s still a bit behind in the conditioning, but he’ll catch up. But his presence in the locker room and on the ice is invaluable.” Brooks, in his third game back since being cleared to play, scored his first goal since Dec. 31 with 17 seconds left in the second period to tie the game at 1. Spokane dominated the third period, outshooting Everett 17-5. Brooks’ power-play goal at 7:09 broke the tie, and Brooks fed Adam Helewka with 2 seconds left for his club-leading 32nd goal on an empty-netter. “It’s been just under two months since I scored, so it was a really good feeling, especially in this tight of game,” Brooks said. “It was almost like a playoff game.” Spokane (28-27-3-1, 60 points) moved three points ahead of idle Tri-City in the chase for the Western Conference’s two wild-card berths to the playoffs. The Chiefs play at Tri-City on Friday and host the Americans on Saturday. “It’s a moral victory, but to be a good team you have to do it consistently,” Nachbaur said. “You can’t be up one night and down the next. It was a blue-collar effort tonight. We worked hard and got the results we wanted, but we have to move on to the next game against a team that’s right behind us and our rivals.” Everett (36-18-3-4, 79 points) caught a break when Portland (76 points), attempting to catch the Silvertips for the division title, blew a 4-1 lead and lost to Calgary 5-4 in overtime. The Silvertips had defeated the Chiefs three consecutive times. If the regular season ended today, Spokane and Everett would be matched up in the first round. Chiefs defenseman Evan Fiala appeared to have scored his first career goal in the third minute of the contest, but the goal was disallowed for contact with Silvertips goalie Austin Lotz. Everett right wing Nikita Scherbak, the Montreal Canadiens’ No. 1 draft pick in 2014, got behind Spokane’s defense with 3:05 left in the second period for his 25th goal. Brooks, with assists from Fiala and Kailer Yamamoto, needed less than 3 minutes to tie the contest and give the Chiefs their first goal in nearly 115 minutes. The goal was reviewed, but not overturned, to see if Brooks’ stick was too high. “I definitely felt better this game, a lot better than the other two games,” Brooks said. “I had more of a rhythm and I’m kind of getting back the timing with Adam and Kailer. Things are starting to click and it’s nice to see our team play really well tonight.” Spokane and Everett won’t meet again until March 22 at the Arena, in the final game of the regular season.