Spokane Keeps Deed On Kamloops Chiefs Beat Blazers 5-3 And Have Owned Whl Power Of Late

The Spokane Chiefs did another job on the Kamloops Blazers Friday night as the wild, wild West got even tighter.

Darren Sinclair scored two goals and assisted on a third as the Chiefs knocked the Blazers out of sole possession of first place in the Western Hockey League West.

Spokane’s 5-3 win was its third straight over major junior hockey’s premier franchise. Three of the Blazers’ seven losses have come at the hands of the Chiefs.

But with West Division rivals Tri-City and Kelowna also winning Friday night, the Chiefs remained in fourth place heading into tonight’s 7 o’clock date with the Regina Pats in the Arena.

Jason Podollan, John Cirjak and Greg Leeb also had goals as Spokane ended a four-game Kamloops win streak while winning its third straight and improving to 18-9-1.

Kamloops fell to 12-3 in Riverside Coliseum and 19-7-1 for the year with 39 points in the standings, tied for first with Tri-City. Kelowna is next with 38, followed by Spokane at 37.

The Chiefs scored first at 12:46 of the first period after Sinclair won a faceoff 13 seconds into a power play and headed for the net. Sean Gillam’s blast from the right point was deflected by Sinclair past goaltender Randy Petruk.

Nolan Baumgartner tied it 3 minutes later, turning a Blar Rota pass up and over Spokane’s David Lemanowicz, who was named Friday as WHL goaltender of the month for November.

The Chiefs scored on two of five second-period shots to lead 3-1 at the second intermission, with Cirjak and Podollan scoring.

Hugh Hamilton wrapped the puck around the net, Petruk poke-checked and the puck landed on the tape of Cirjak’s stick, 6 feet out in front of the net. Cirjak buried the easy shot.

Podollan’s goal was his third in two nights.

Kamloops’ Donnie Kinney made it 3-2, knocking in a rebound 2 minutes into the third period. The Blazers’ Cadrin Smart registered his first goal of the season at 10:04 of the third - a shot off the crossbar - to tie it at 3.

The Chiefs took less than a minute to answer.

Jay Bertsch picked off a careless Kamloops pass in the slot. His shot bounced behind Petruk to the opportunistic Sinclair, who turned the rebound into the game-winner.

Summary can be found on stat sheet/C5

, DataTimes