Chiefs Take A Spill Cerven Makes Difference In Seattle’s 6-4 Whl Win

Maybe somebody should have told Martin Cerven that it’s a little late for a Halloween party.

The Spokane Chiefs traded Cerven to Seattle last January.

Friday night he came back to haunt them.

Cerven scored in a pivotal second period, then blocked a shot from the point with the game on the line that sent Tyler Willis off for the clincher - an empty-net goal with 22 seconds left - in Seattle’s 6-4 win.

After losing 6-0 to the Chiefs in Seattle on Sunday night, the T-Birds twice came from behind and finally won it with 1:34 left when Bret Dececco - stationed in front of the net - deflected Torrey DiRoberto’s blast from just inside the blue line on the power play.

Marian Cisar’s high-sticking infraction with 3:09 left put Seattle on its game-winning power play in front of 6,846 in the Arena. Cisar also took an earlier third-period stick infraction at 3:11, but the Chiefs killed that penalty.

They weren’t as fortunate the second time around.

“You’ve got to be responsible for your own stick,” said Chiefs coach Mike Babcock, whose decision to bring on Marc Maglairditi in goal after the second-period intermission breathed some fire into his club. “But we’ve talked about it before. The hockey gods don’t let you win when you turn it up. They let you win when you play 60 minutes. They battled and we didn’t.”

The Thunderbirds (10-10-1) are 2-2 against the Chiefs because they smothered the Chiefs’ power play. Spokane had been scoring on a league-best 37 percent of its power-play opportunities at home.

The Chiefs managed to cash in on only one of seven against Seattle.

The one the Chiefs did punch through - Yegor Mikhailov’s second goal of the night - tied the game at 4 with 8:04 remaining.

The Chiefs were carrying the play at that point. Then came the stick infraction and the game-turning Seattle power play.

Trent Whitfield and Ty Jones also had goals for the Chiefs, who at 12-6-2 remain atop the Western Hockey League West heading into tonight’s 7 o’clock faceoff here with the improving Tri-City Americans.

Jones’ spectacular goal 7 minutes into the third period pulled the Chiefs within 4-3. Whitfield set it up, flipping the puck off a T-Bird at center ice. Jones picked it up, beat the defense and put it past helpless goaltender Cody Rudkowsky.

Rudkowsky earlier rejected 19 first-period shots to give the T-Birds a chance to climb back into it, which they eventually did with six goals from six players - Jeremy Reich, Torrey DiRoberto, Rick Berry, Cerven, DeCecco and Willis.

Cerven was the subject of Seattle coach Don Nachbaur’s praise:

“He’s been great for me. He’s going to be a good pro because he’s very committed defensively. He’s got some offensive skills, but to play in the NHL you’ve got to know your own end and he knows it.”

Cerven, voted the game’s third star, said coming back to star was a great feeling.

“I know how hard it is to win here, because I was here,” said the 19-year-old center from Trencin, Slovokia, holding up fresh-baked cookies and assorted goodies that came from “my Spokane friends.”

The Chiefs missed defenseman Joel Boschman, who is out this weekend with a groin injury. His understated physical presence was noticeably absent when the T-Birds erased Spokane leads of 1-0 and 2-1 with an explosive second period in which they scored three unanswered goals and took control of the game.

Down 4-2 after two periods, the Chiefs rallied behind Magliarditi and a revved-up offense. They still had a shot when Babcock pulled his goaltender with 1:07 left for the sixth attacker.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo