Lencucha Lifts Chiefs From Cellar Splendid Shutout Effort By Spokane Goaltender Leaves Broncos With No Answers To Early Goals Chiefs 6 Broncos 0

The Spokane Chiefs weren’t spouting off about a new sheriff in town Wednesday night, but snipers in the Western Hockey League would be wise to take note.

The name’s Lencucha, Mike Lencucha, and the shutout he threw at the Swift Current Broncos made the Chiefs’ 6-0 win look easy.

In his second start in as many games, Lencucha stopped 31 shots to usher the Chiefs out of the West Division cellar and help them end a four-game homeice losing streak.

Reversing a recent history of faltering starts, the Chiefs scored early and often before 4,568 in the Arena.

Rookie Tim Smith gave Lencucha all the scoring support he needed just 2:38 into the game with his first goal in nearly two months, on a feed from Cam Severson coming off the wall.

Severson was one of three forwards with two points and one of nine Spokane players who scored.

That’s an outburst for a team that had only eight goals in its last five games.

With Lencucha playing big in only his sixth appearance of the year, counting mop-up duty, the Chiefs would have won this one with a single.

“He didn’t keep them in it - we weren’t really ever in it - but he certainly made saves when he had to, to preserve the shutout,” Swift Current coach and general manager Todd McLellan said. “We had a lot of good first shots, but I don’t think we ever got near the net for a second or third opportunity. Spokane did a good job of screening out and sealing. And we weren’t all that hungry to get there.”

The Brandon Wheat Kings gave the Chiefs a little help, dumping Kelowna 6-3 to allow Spokane to slip into sixth place. Kelowna dropped into seventh and last, two points behind Spokane.

The Chiefs were up 3-0 at the first intermission after Curtis Suter and Severson scored 64 seconds apart. Ty Jones fed Suter from behind the net for the wraparound. Jared Smyth’s slick backhand pass set Severson up for his third goal of the year.

The Chiefs logged their second-highest point total of the season without scoring leader Daniel Bohac, who sat out the second game of a two-game suspension, stemming from Saturday night’s gross misconduct penalty. Bohac will be available Friday night when the Chiefs face runaway West Division leader Kamloops in the Arena.

Lencucha raised his record to 2-0-1 with his first WHL shutout. The Broncos threatened to punch through late. They came closest out of a scramble in front of the net with Lencucha flat on his back, but the goaltender stopped the first shot and got a pad on the second to hold on to the club’s second shutout win of the season.

“I was impressed with his poise and the way he played the puck,” Chiefs coach Mike Babcock said. “He made some big saves on the penalty kill. They have a good power play (fourth in the league) but they went oh-fer on it.”

The Broncos couldn’t score in seven tries on the power play.

“We talked about work and discipline being the two deciding factors. Spokane was six times better than we were,” McLellan said. “Every now and then we decide that a night off is something that we’ve earned, and I guess this was one of those nights.”

Dan Vandermeer, Lynn Loyns and Tim Krymusa added third-period goals for the Chiefs (8-17-5). Swift Current (14-13-4) played its first of five games in seven nights on the road.

“I was impressed with the Loyns-Smyth-Severson line and how hard they worked,” Babcock said. “And I thought Cote (Brandin) and Schutz (Derek) were really coming on. We went to the net hard. We weren’t overly creative by any means, but that will come with confidence.”

Lencucha said, “The guys did a pretty good job letting me see the puck and clearing the puck away after I stopped them.”

Chiefs 6, Broncos 0

Swift Current 0 0 0 - 0

Spokane 3 0 3 - 6

First period - 1, Spokane, Smith 2 (Severson, Hajek), 2:38. 2, Spokane, Suter 3 (Jones), 16:23. 3, Spokane, Severson 3 (Smyth, Loyns), 17:27. Key penalties - Jones, Spo, 4:37; Nycholat, SC, 6:01; Beagle, SC, 9:12; Cote, Spo, 18:04.

Second period - None. Key penalties - Ondrus, SC, 2:52; Langager, SC, 6:07; Spokane bench (too many men on the ice), 7:29; Forth, Spo, 11:26; Hulak, SC, 14:01; Ference, Spo, 17:29; Jones, Spo, 19:08.

Third period - 4, Spokane, Vandermeer 8 (Smyth), 17:16. 5, Spokane, Loyns 10 (Rossiter, Severson), 18:31 (pp). 6, Spokane, Krymusa 8 (Smith, Cote), 19:53. Key penalties - Reich, SC, 8:29; Jones, Spo, 9:52; Maser, SC, 13:01; Sherdahl, SC, 18:13.

Power play opp. - Swift Current 0 of 7. Spokane 1 of 7. Saves - Swift Current, Motz 6-10-8- 24. Spokane, Lencucha 10-6-15- 31. A - 4,568.