Blazers Return Fire Fight Off Podollan’s Four Goals

The Kamloops Blazers, looking pretty lively for a corpse, survived a four-goal onslaught by Jason Podollan Wednesday night to hold off the Spokane Chiefs 6-5 and push the Western Hockey League West Division finals to a fifth game.

That’ll be played tonight at 7 in the Arena, with the Chiefs leading the best-of-7 series 3-1. There is no live local TV coverage.

Tickets go on sale today at 8 a.m. at G&B Select-A-Seat outlets and the Chiefs office.

Podollan did his best to rescue the slow-starting Chiefs, who fell victim to their own mistakes and a Blazers team that recaptured some of its fading glory.

Playing their ninth game in 13 nights, going without defenseman Brad Lukowich (concussion) and tough guy Rob Skrlac, who was suspended Wednesday in the wake of Tuesday night’s fights in Game 3, the Blazers knocked off Spokane for the first time since Jan. 28, 1995.

“We weren’t going to get swept,” said Kamloops left wing Hnat Domenichelli. “We’ve got a lot of pride. … not just to play for everybody but to play for ourselves. Every time we win, it’ll be that much tougher to beat us.”

Spokane hadn’t lost to the Blazers in 14 games. Chalk this one up to inspired performances by a Blazers star who finished what a journeyman started.

Jarome Iginla, WHL player of the year, scored the Blazers’ fifth and sixth goals after the Chiefs had tied the game 4-4.

While Iginla was cranking up his game, Shawn McNeil scored two first-period goals to get the Blazers off and running.

Kamloops’ quick start was all but in the final second of the first period, when Podollan from out of a scramble beat goaltender Randy Petruk with the Chiefs on the power play.

Still, the Blazers probably won the game in the first 20 minutes, when they out-shot Spokane 16-10 and led 3-2.

“The game plan doesn’t work if you don’t start on time,” Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said. “We didn’t finish a check (in the first 20 minutes). We never got on them. They’re too good for us to play, ‘Let’s Race You To The Net.”’

After McNeil scored his first goal 4 minutes into the game, Randy Favaro put the Chiefs on the board at 14:07 of the period, tying the game 1-1 on a redirect of Chris Lane’s pass.

Twenty-eight seconds later, however, Sean Gillam gambled with the puck and lost, batting it behind him - where it was picked up by Domenichelli alone in the slot. Domenichelli’s seventh goal of the playoffs restored Kamloops’ lead.

McNeil’s second goal, with 2 minutes left in the period, made it 3-1, but Podollan got that one back inside the final second with the Chiefs on the power play. The Chiefs had four whacks at the puck before Podollan found the opening.

Podollan’s two power play goals in the first 5:11 of the second period gave Spokane a second-period standoff.

Kamloops maintained its one-goal lead - it was 5-4 after two - with Blair Rota’s first playoff goal and Iginla’s power-play strike.

The Blazers, who let a two-goal, thirdperiod lead slip away in Sunday night’s Game 2, are now 43-2 in regular-season and playoff games they lead after two periods.

They hiked the lead to 6-4 at 14:28 of the third period when the Chiefs’ Adam Magarrell left the puck behind the net with a soft pass that was picked up by the Blazers’ Bob Maudie, who played it to Iginla, who scored his 14th playoff goal.

Kamloops 3 2 1 - 6 Spokane 2 2 1 - 5

First period - 1, Kamloops, McNeil 3 (Kinney, Holland) 4:07 (power play); 2, Spokane, Favaro 2 (Lane) 14:07; 3, Kamloops, Domenichelli 7 (unassisted) 14:35; 4, Kamloops, McNeil 4 (Kinney, Baumgartner) 18:00; 5, Spokane, Podollan 11 (Sinclair, Hrdina) 19:59 (pp). Key penalties - Hrdina, Spo, 2:50; Leeb, Spo, 5:23; Boschman, Spo, 8:40; Holland, Kam, 11:07; Rota, 19:23.

Second period - 6, Spokane, Podollan 12 (Hrdina, Sinclair) :46 (pp); 7, Kamloops, Rota 1 (Smart) 1:58; 8, Spokane, Podollan13 (Leeb, Cirjak) 5:11 (pp); 9, Kamloops, Iginla 13 (Keller, St. Croix) 8:37 (pp). Key penalties - Maudie, Kam, :24; Smart, Kam, 4:29; Domenichelli, Kam, 5:11; Cardarelli, Spo, 6:48; Iginla, Kam, 14:50.

Third period - 10, Kamloops, Iginla 14 (Maudie) 14:28. 11, Spokane, Podollan 14 (Leeb, Gillam) 17:09 (pp). Key penalties - Holland, Kam,:18; Hrdina, Spo, 5:28; Whitfield, Spo, 9:11;

Keller, 15:32. Power plays opp. - Kamloops 2-6, Spokane 3-8.Saves - Kamloops, Petruk 8-11-9-28. Spokane, Lemanowicz 13-11-13-37.A-10,528

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo