Chiefs blow another lead

Everett Silvertips coach Kevin Constantine rolled the dice, big-time.

Looking like a high-rolling Vegas gambler, he pulled his goalie – twice – in the final five minutes of the game. And his gamble paid off; at least inasmuch as he earned a push with the house.

The Silvertips and the Spokane Chiefs tied 3-3 in a strange Western Hockey League game before 6,511 in the Arena.

And the final five minutes looked more like a tennis rally than a hockey game.

First, with Spokane leading 2-1 and the Everett net empty, Spokane’s Jeff Lynch put the Chiefs up 3-1 (and seemingly out of reach) with just 4 minutes, 6 seconds left in the game. But nothing has come that easy for the Spokane Chiefs this season – and this game was no exception.

Everett, again with the extra skater on the next shift, cut the lead to 3-2 on a goal by Alex Leavitt at the 17:18 mark of the third. No problem, still a one-goal lead for Spokane, right?

Well, with just 36.8 seconds remaining that logic went out the window when Torrie Wheat put his own rebound past Jim Watt in a 6-on-5 situation to send the game into a 5-minute, four-on-four overtime. No goal for either team, but a point for each in the standings.

Yes, it was a point for Spokane, a team which is still showing the effects of its recent seven-game road stretch. But the way this one was lost left a bitter taste for many of the Chiefs players.

Spokane (10-15-6-1, 27 points) remains in last place in the U.S. Division of the Western Conference. Everett (17-8-5-2, 41 points) held onto first place in the division.

“We’ve got to be better in our own zone, 6-on-5, in that situation,” said Lynch after the second game in which in the Chiefs blew a lead of two or more goals. Is a pattern developing?

“I hope not,” Lynch said, “because it’s not a very good one if it is. We’ve got to learn when we get up on teams to keep working harder instead of letting back.”

The Chiefs wasted an outstanding effort by goalie Jim Watt, who made 37 saves.

“It’s amazing in this sport how that can happen,” Watt said. “You can be up two, but you can still be in a threat to lose the game. And that’s something we’ve got to take to heart. It hit us pretty hard. …

“These are games, if we’re up 3-1 and five minutes left, there’s no way … that shouldn’t happen. I’m still pretty lit up about it. But we can’t lose a game in the last five minutes when we work 55 minutes for it.”

Everett got on the board first, just 3 minutes, 19 seconds into the game, when Brady Calla put back his own rebound off Watt after having outraced Chiefs defenseman Joe Logan to the puck in the Spokane defensive zone.

Spokane would struggle to control play for much of the rest of the period, but Kyle Howarth scored at the 17:16 mark of the first period when he put in a blast from the slot to the high left corner of the net past Everett goaltender Leland Irving, the brother of former Chiefs goalie Kirk Irving.

With the goal, stuffed bears were then thrown to the ice by Chiefs fans in a Toys for Tots promotion and will be donated to area children. In all, 2,019 were collected by Chiefs players and volunteers as the game was stopped. In fact, the teams returned to their locker rooms and finished out the first period after the ice was resurfaced.

The second period cured any insomnia in the building as Everett had its way with a clamped-down style of play. The Chiefs started to rally in the final half of the period, but when the 20 minutes had ended they had failed to capitalize on three power-play opportunities and were outshot 19-16.

Watt had kept his team in the game by stopping all 13 shots in the second period, including stoning Karel Hromas on a breakaway opportunity near the midway mark.

Spokane 3, Everett 3 (OT)

First Period–1, Everett, Calla 6 (Love, Heshka), 3:19; 2, Spokane, Howarth 4 (Zimmerman), 17:16.

Second Period–No scoring.

Third Period–3, Spokane, Klassen 16 (Je.Lynch, Ryan), 8:15. 4, Spokane, Je.Lynch 7, 15:54 (en). 5, Everett, Leavitt 13 (Calla, Thoring), 17:18. 6, Everett, Wheat 5 (Love, Dietrich), 19:24.

Power-play opportunities–Everett 0 of 1; Spokane 0 of 4. Saves–Everett, Irving 7-8-7-1–23. Spokane, Watt 6-12-16-3–37. A–6,511.