Chiefs Don’t Need Best Shot Gillam’s Pinball Goal Gives Spokane Unartistic Ot Win

Jason Podollan scored two goals Saturday night - the 100th and 101st of his Western Hockey League career - but it took an unlikely shot by Sean Gillam to finally subdue the Lethbridge Hurricanes.

Gillam dug the puck out of the corner, dumped a centering pass in front of the net and came up with a bit of magic in overtime before 5,211 at the Coliseum.

Gillam’s pass hit the skate of Lethbridge Hurricane Kory Mullin and squirted past goaltender Darrin Smadis to seal Spokane’s 5-4 win 4:29 into the extra session.

“I thought I heard someone yell for the pass in front of the net,” Gillam said. “I just tried to get it through. I guess it went in off one of their D-men and off a post.

“I saw one of our guys lift his stick and I knew it was over.”

It was the Chiefs’ their third straight win and second in OT in as many nights.

The Chiefs improved to 22-32-1 with Jon Shockey’s first WHL goal and a 55-foot slap shot from Darren Sinclair that put them up 4-3 in a wild second period.

Lethbridge held 2-0 and 3-1 leads and rallied to tie it at 4 with a thirdperiod goal, only to lose the rematch of former teammates.

The well-traveled Smadis started the year as the backup ‘tender in Spokane, behind Jarrod Daniel.

Smadis last visted the Coliseum on Nov. 4 as the goalie for the Brandon Wheat Kings. He beat the Chiefs that night but this time - with Smadis getting the start for Lethbridge - the latest round went to Daniel.

Daniel rejected 31 shots after a slow start.

The ‘Canes jumped up 1-0 after Spokane defenseman Joel Boschman gloved the puck and set it down only to have Lethbridge center Doyle McMorris pick it off and feed Chad Gans for the game-opener 3:35 into the game.

It was 2-0 after the Hurricanes’ Byron Ritchie caught Daniel guessing wrong and rolled in a shot at 12:40 of the first.

Shockey cut the gap to 2-1, firing a shot off Smadis from the blue line, skating into the left circle for the rebound and beating the goaltender with a shot from the left faceoff dot.

Mike Josephson got that one back with a backhander with the ‘Canes on one of their eight power plays.

Podollan answered with his 35th and 36th goals to tie it at 3, and Sinclair’s long one appeared to give Daniel all the edge he needed.

But Lethbridge’s Brad Mehalko’s backhander tied it at 4 with 7 seconds left on a Chiefs’ power play, at 8:39 of the third.

That left it to Gillam in overtime.

Twenty-four hours after playing their best game of the year in Tacoma the Chiefs resorted to what coach Mike Babcock called River Hockey.

Still Babcock was smiling after his club hiked its 1995 record to 11-7.

The Chiefs lost Jeremy Stasiuk in the second period to a checking from behind major penalty and mandatory ejection. Randy Favaro was tossed in overtime for a checking from behind minor and a misconduct for flinging his stick.

“Tonight we were a bad hockey team but I have to give the kids credit,” Babcock said. “At least we battled back and found a way to get it done. Podollan once again was pretty good.”

With six goals and four assists in his last four games, Podollan moved to No. 7 on the Chiefs’ alltime goal-scoring list.

It was Spokane’s 31st one-goal game, a club record. The Chiefs are 13-18 in game decided by a goal.

Lethbridge (17-36-2) is the eighth-place team out of the WHL East.

Spokane 5, Lethbridge 4

Lethbridge 3 0 1 0 - 4

Spokane 1 3 0 1 - 5

First period - 1, Le, Gans 7 ( McMorris) 3:35; 2, Le, Ritchie 18 ( Mullin, O’Grady) 12:40; 3, Spo, Shockey 1 (Cirjak, Leonov) 15:35; 4, Le, Josephson 15 (MacIssac, Townsend) 16:48 (power play). Key penalties - Hamilton, misconduct, viser infraction, 1:32; Bertsch, Spo, 7:22; Ritchie, Le, 13:26; Gillam, Spo, 16:23.

Second period - 5, Spo, Podollan 35 (Whitfield) :36; 6, Spo, Podollan 36 (Cirjak, Leonov) 6:38. 7, Spo, Sinclair 10 (Gillam) 17:04. Key penalties - Haley, Spo, 9:31; Boschman, 12:29; Stasiuk, checking from behind major, game misconduct, 13:59;Mullin, Le, 15:04.

Third period - 8, Le, Mahalko 7 (unassisted) 8:34 (shorthanded);

Key penalties - Sinclair, Spo, :16; Gillam, Spo, 3:49; O’Grady, Le, 6:41.

Overtime - 9, Spo, Gillam (unassisted) 4:29. Key penalty - Favaro, Spo, checking from behind minor, misconduct 1:54 (served by Bertsch);

Power plays - Lethbridge 1-8

Spokane 0-2

Saves - Smadis, Le, 13—6-9-2-30

Daniel, Spo 10-11-10-0- 31

A - 5,211