Chiefs Ride Cisar’s 2 Goals
The new and improved Tri-City Americans - better, but still winless - had the worst start in their history extended by a familiar nemesis.
Marian Cisar, whose four-point night blunted the Americans a week ago in Spokane, had a pair of goals in Spokane’s 3-1 Western Hockey League win Saturday night before 4,812 in the Coliseum.
It was the Chiefs’ fifth win in seven starts.
The Americans are headed the other way. Held to an empty-net goal by newly acquired Mark Smith, they fell to 0-6-1 their longest losing streak since the ‘93-94 season.
Still, not all signs are negatives here. Stronger on the attack end with the addition this week of Czech import Petr Sachl, the journeyman Smith - obtained in a trade with Saskatoon - and the return of Mike Hurley from an ankle injury, the Americans created more scoring chances this time than they managed in two previous losses to Spokane in this 16-game series.
Chiefs goaltender Aren Miller was up to the challenge, turning aside 27 of 28 shots and still taking second billing to Tri-City goaltender Brian Boucher.
Boucher rejected 41 Chiefs shots while personally keeping this one close.
“I thought our team was going to score more than it has, but we’ve played three of our seven games against Boucher,” Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said. “Maybe we’re just not going to score against this guy. He made some saves - a glove save on Ty Jones and a pad save on (Yegor) Mikhailov in the first period - that were big-league plays.”
Babcock had a lot to choose from in picking his own player of the game.
John Cirjak, who led off the first period with his team-high fifth goal, was the coach’s choice.
“Cirjak has been our best player three games in a row now,” Babcock said.
Cirjak’s first goal was set up by Trent Whitfield’s forecheck. Whitfield won a one-on-one battle for the puck with T-C’s Tom Zavedieuk and sent it into the high slot for Joe Cardarelli, who put it on net. Cirjak backhanded the rebound past Boucher.
The clubs traded goals in an up-tempo second period, the Chiefs taking a 2-0 lead on Cisar’s breakaway goal, the assist going to Greg Leeb.
The Americans closed within one on Smith’s goal into an empty net at 3:26 of the period.
Cisar finished the scoring at 12:16 of the third after Joel Boschman launched a one-timer from the right point. Boucher made the kick save but the puck bounced out to Cisar, who backhanded it past Boucher.
The rest was a goaltenders show.
The only negative for the Chiefs was the loss on a game-to-game basis of veteran right winger Jay Bertsch.
Bertsch went down 5 seconds into the game with a neck stinger. Bertsch and Tri-City’s Shawn Legault were tied up at center ice just as the puck dropped. Center Jody Lapeyre collided with the off-balance Bertsch and took him down.
Although painful, the injury was not as serious as believed when Bertsch stayed down for several minutes.
“I dumped the puck in, the guy landed on the back of my neck, the pain shot down my arm and I felt like I was dead,” said Bertsch of the injury, fairly common in football.
“It’s not bad right now (after the game) as long as I don’t move my neck and everything too much.”
Chiefs 3, Americans 1
Spokane 1 1 1 - 3
Tri-City 0 1 0 - 1
First period - 1, Spokane, Cirjak 5 (Cardarelli, Whitfield), 6:48. Key penalties - Ascroft, TC, 6:56; Boschman, Spo, 9:41; Hamilton, Spo, 10:29; Magarrell, Spo, 12:30; Boschman, Spo, 17:52; Gervais, TC; 18:59.
Second period - 2, Spokane, Cisar 3 (Leeb), 2:12. 3, Tri-City, Smith 1, 3:26. Key penalties - Gyori, TC, 4:02; McCallum, TC, 6:28; Gervais, TC, 9:57; Magarrell, Spo, 13:05; Komarniski, TC, 15:26.
Third period - 4, Spokane, Cisar 4 (Boschman, Leeb), 12:16. Key penalties - None.
Power-play opp. Spokane 0 of 6; Tri-City 0 of 5. Saves - Spokane, Miller 9-11-7-27. Tri-City, Boucher 14-17-10-41. A - 4,812.
, DataTimes