Fast Start Paves Way For Chiefs

The Spokane Chiefs worked out a new wrinkle on the old hat trick Saturday night.

It’s the Medicine Hat trick - you score three goals in the first 3 minutes then take the rest of the night off.

All you can say for that approach is that it worked.

Spokane’s Greg Leeb, Martin Cerven and Sean Gillam scored in the opening 3:03 to send the Chiefs on their way to a wild 8-6 Western Hockey League win over the Medicine Hat Tigers before 6,429 at the Arena.

The Chiefs can thank that opening 3-minute burst for their 22nd win because there were long, disturbing stretches that followed when Medicine Hat - playing its eighth game in 11 nights on the road - was the more effective club.

If it wasn’t art it was meaningful. With the win, and with the Kamloops Blazers losing 3-2 at Portland, the Chiefs moved into a tie for first in the WHL West Division. Spokane and Kamloops go at it here tonight at 6 with the lead at stake.

After that it’s nine days off for Christmas break.

Aware that all eyes are on the holidays, Chiefs coach Mike Babcock called it “Christmas hockey,” among other things.

“I can’t remember the last time we broke down like that in our own zone,” he said. “Continually. We didn’t work hard enough to be a good hockey club tonight. Playing like that is not going to get us where we want to go.”

Struggling along with a 11-25-1 record in the weakest of the three divisions, the Central, the Hat came back from 3-0 and 6-3 deficits behind Josh Green, who had two goals and two assists. The Tigers outshot the Chiefs 19-14 in the third period and closed to within 6-5 with 8:48 to go.

It wasn’t over until well after Trent Whitfield beat the Tigers’ power play unit for his second goal of the night, his 18th of the year and his fourth short-handed score of the season.

Whitfield took a pass from Hugh Hamilton, carried the puck up the left wall and let go with the game-winner at 15:26 of the third to give Spokane a 7-5 advantage.

Medicine Hat cut that to 7-6 with 3:10 left on Blair St. Martin’s goal.

The Tigers were finally forced to pull goaltender Paxton Schafer inside the final minute. Spokane’s Randy Favaro found the open net for the final goal that finally put an end to the suspense.

“We’re fortunate we came away with two points (for the win),” Babcock said. “We’ll thank the hockey gods. They must have felt like they owed us one.”

Hamilton, who had a goal and a pair of assists, and Chad Gans scored 47 seconds apart early in the third period to put the Chiefs up 6-3 but Henry Kuster and Green answered to close the gap to one.

Scott Buhler started in goal for Medicine Hat but was yanked at 3:55 of the second period following Whitfield’s first strike, an unassisted goal that gave Spokane a 4-2 lead - normally safe in this building but nothing on a night like this.

Chiefs goaltender David Lemanowicz, who kicked away 28 of Medicine Hat’s 34 shots, said the Tigers got stronger the longer the Chiefs left the door open.

“It was their last game of the trip, they had nothing to lose, they were going home for Christmas,” Lemanowicz said. “They kept seeing light at the end of the tunnel and there almost was.”

Chiefs 8, Tigers 6

Spokane 3 1 4 - 8

Medicine Hat 1 2 3 — 6

First period - 1, Spo, Leeb 20 (unassisted) 1:20 (power play); 2, Spo, Cerven 3 (Whtifield, Leonov) 1:39; 3, Spo, Gillam 7 (Sinclair) 3:03; 4, MH, Wasyluk 14 (Green) 6:43. Key penalties - Cabana, MH, :47; Gillam, Spo, 9:31; Boschman, Spo, 13:20; Hamilton, Spo, 19:28.

Second period - 5, MH, Green 6 (Smith, Austin) 2:50; 6, Spo, Whitfield 17 (unassisted) 3:55; 7, MH, Polak 15 (Senkow) 12:28. Key penalties - Smith, MH, 6:59; Kondo, MH, 13:07.

Third period - 8, Spo, Hamilton 5 (Favaro, Cirjak) 2:09 (pp); 9, Spo, Gans 2 (Shockey, Bertsch) 2:47; 10, MH, Kuster 18 (Polak, Green) 9:26 (pp); 11, MH, Green (Kuster, Polak) 11:12; 12, Spo, Whitfield 18 (Hamilton) 15:26 (short-handed); 13, MH, St. Martin 3 (Reich, Senkow) 16:50; 14, Spo, Favaro 11 (Leonov, Hamilton) 19:31 (empty net). Key penalties - Senkow, MH, 1:33; Shockey, Spo, 7:46; Schutz, Spo, 14:05.

Power plays - Medicine Hat 1-4. Spokane 2-4. Saves - Buhler, MH, 10-1-x-11; Schafer, MH x-11-9-20; Lemanowicz, Spo, 4-8-16-28.

A - 6,429.

, DataTimes