Chiefs must forget, move on to Game 2
The best strategy for the Spokane Chiefs heading in to Game 2 of the Western Hockey League playoffs is to toss away the memory of Everett's five-goal third period Friday night. Read story
Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur was pleased with how his team played through 40 minutes on Friday night at Xfinity Arena.
The first 4:03 of the third period, in which Everett's Carson Stadnyk unleashed a hat trick, changed the entire tone. After the score so quickly went from 1-0 for Spokane to 3-1 for Everett, the outcome seemed inevitable. Ivan Nikolishin's power-play goals at 11:31 and 18:56 added to the misery.
"I liked our first 40 minutes," Nachbaur said. "I'm obviously not happy about the third, but I thought we were really good with the puck through two periods. We kind of fell apart in the third."
The tricky part now for the Chiefs is to wipe the slate clean and focus on tying the series Saturday night in Everett.
"We have a lot of guys in our room who have experience in the playoffs," Nachbaur said. "They should know that the head hits the pillow tonight and tomorrow's a new day."
The game had the typical late start for a Friday contest in Everett -- 7:35 -- and the game dragged more when the Chiefs grew frustrated in the final 5-plus minutes and mass fighting broke out. At 14:40, three Chiefs were assessed a total of 21 minutes of penalties and Everett received 29 minutes for three players. At 17:25, three Chiefs were whistled for 32 minutes and two Everett players got 20 minutes of penalties.
