Chiefs Sharp On The ‘Kill,’ Salvage A Tie

If the Spokane Chiefs are looking for positives from a 2-2 Western Hockey League tie with the Lethbridge Hurricanes Friday, they need look no further than their penalty-killing unit.

Spokane killed off 11 of 13 Lethbridge power plays, including nine in a row from early in the first period to late in the third. Twice the Chiefs warded off the Hurricanes when they had a two-man advantage.

And through it all, a defense that has been riddled of late allowed only 19 shots on goalie Mike Lencucha - just 10 in the last 45 minutes.

However, while skating shorthanded nearly half the game, the Chiefs gave themselves little chance to mount a consistent attack against Lethbridge goalie Jason McLean, making just his fourth start.

Both Lethbridge goals came with a man advantage. Derek Holland had the first 3 minutes, 38 seconds into the game as the Chiefs played shorthanded for 8:24 of the first 10:45.

It stood until early in the third when the Chiefs ended a scoreless streak of 119 minutes, 15 seconds. Brandon Cote took a Ty Jones pass and ripped a shot through McLean’s pads at 4:28 for his ninth goal.

Mason Wallin, on a feed from Jones, put Spokane up 2-1 at 9:03 on a blast from the right wing with his fifth goal. But the Chiefs couldn’t make it stand up.

Jason Hegberg’s power-play goal with 5-1/2 minutes to play drew the Hurricanes even, and that’s the way it stayed as Spokane (12-26-6) played to a franchise record-tying sixth tie.

Box score, C6