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

Chiefs pound on Blades to stop skid

After losing all four games to start the year, the Spokane Chiefs raked in the biggest scoring night of the season Wednesday night in a 9-2 slashing of the Saskatoon Blades.

The game was also the first game action for 15-year-old Chiefs defenseman Ty Smith, who was the first pick in the 2015 WHL Bantam draft. Smith made a couple of mistakes, but also finished the night with his first two points off two assists.

The Chiefs (20-17-3-2, 45 points) exploded for six goals in the third period to put the game on ice.

“We’ve lost four in a row. We needed something positive,” coach Don Nachbaur said. “We were better in the face-offs. We were better in defense of the net. We have something to build on this going forward.”

The game started tight but Spokane continually got good looks at the net. The Blades (16-24-3-0, 35 points) took the ice without an edge and only managed one shot on goal after two power-play opportunities.

“At the time, we were getting frustrated,” Nachbaur said, “because we couldn’t get the shots through. Then it all came together in the third period.”

The scoring finally started near the end of the first period. Dominic Zwerger broke free and he fired a pass to the streaking Kailer Yamamoto who slammed it home to give Spokane a 1-0 lead at the 18:10 mark of the first period.

The second period started with a bang. Already in a power play from the previous period, Zwerger collected the puck off the faceoff and found a wide-open Hudson Elynuik who slammed the puck home only nine seconds into the period to give Spokane a 2-0 lead.

“Tonight, we regrouped,” Elynuik said. “All 20 guys went to work.”

Some 47 seconds later, after the Chiefs failed to secure the puck, Braylon Schmyr broke free for Saskatoon and got his shot to go around Verhelst to make it 2-1 Chiefs.

Then at the 5:58 mark of the second period, Evan Fiala took a pass from Tyson Helgensen and Fiala fired a laser from the blue line that raced past goalie Brock Hamm to make it 3-1 Chiefs.

For stretches, Spokane looked dominant on offense and clearly was the more physical team. At the end of two periods Saskatoon only had seven shots on goal compared to 14 for the Chiefs.

Then it started raining goals. Wyatt Johnson scored another long-range laser. Then Smith, the new kid, fired a shot that bounced off a few players before it found the net. The goal was awarded to Jaret Anderson-Dolan.

While leading 5-1, Kailer Yamamoto broke free and found Elynuik, who scored his second goal to make it 6-1.

“Kailer is such a special player,” Elynuik said. “It’s definitely a treat to play with him.”

But the Chiefs kept attacking. Curtis Miske broke free and threw a puck-sized chunk of salt in Sasktatoon’s wound to make it 7-1.

The Blade’s Noland Reid broke free and briefly stopped the bleeding at 7-2. But goals by Keanu Yamamoto and Dalton Hamaliuk completed the 9-2 shellacking.

The Chiefs next play Friday at home against Portland. But for a night, the team was all smiles.

“Everyone played great,” Elynuik said. “We all came to work and good things happened.”

Nachbaur said Smith showed flashes of the player they hope he will become.

“He’s going to be a good player,” Nachbaur said. “All things considered, it was a good strong game for us.”