Chiefs lose at Everett, remain in last place in U.S. Division

EVERETT – Ivan Baranka and Tyler Dietrich each had a goal and an assist Wednesday night to lead the Everett Silvertips to a 4-1 Western Hockey League victory over the Spokane Chiefs in front of 4,519 at the Everett Event Center.

Everett increased its U.S. Division-leading record to 17-8-3-2 (39 points), three points ahead of Seattle, which played at Kamloops late in a game delayed two hours by the Thunderbirds’ travel problems. Spokane remains in fifth and last place in the U.S. Division (10-15-4-1, 25).

With Jeff Lynch in the penalty box after a holding penalty, Baranka opened the scoring at 15 minutes, 15 seconds of the first period with a slap shot from the right point, beating Spokane goaltender Jim Watt on the glove side.

Everett made it 2-0 when Dietrich slapped a shot past Watt, again on the glove side and on a power play, with 2.9 seconds left in the first.

Everett managed only three shots on goal in the second period, but Randy King converted one of those into a goal to give Everett a 3-0 lead.

After Torrie Wheat scored in the slot to give the Silvertips a 4-0 lead in the third period, Chad Klassen answered for Spokane with his team-leading 13th goal with an assist from Derek Ryan.

Everett was 2 for 5 on the power play. Spokane was 0 for 3 and has failed to convert a power-play opportunity in its last 15 tries over four games.

Silvertips 4, Chiefs 1

First Period–1, Everett, Baranka (Hamill, Dietrich), 15:15 (pp). 2, Everett, Dietrich (Baranka, Hamill), 19:57 (pp). Key penalties–Blatchford, Eve, 12:40; J.Lynch, Spo, 14:36; Logan, Spo, 19:40.

Second Period–3, Everett, King (Lewis), 3:44. Key penalties–Zimmerman, Spo, 4:40; Billstein, Eve, 10:19.

Third Period–4, Everett, Wheat (Leavitt), 2:30. 5, Spokane, Klassen (Ryan), 12:24. Key penalties–Engman, Spo, 5:16; Engman, Spo, 14:15; Wuchterl, Eve, 19:00.

Power-play opportunities–Spokane 0 of 3; Everett 2 of 5. Saves–Spokane, Watt 8-2-6–16. Everett, Wall 10-6-8–24. A–4,519.