Spokane reaches .500 with late flurry

The Spokane Chiefs are back to even, but it didn’t come easy.

Spokane broke open a tie game with Lethbridge by scoring three times in the final 10 minutes, 18 seconds in a 6-3 Western Hockey League victory Tuesday night before 3,369 at the Arena.

Chad Klassen had two goals and an assist and Scott Lynch added two assists as the Chiefs (3-3) remained unbeaten at home, ending the five-game unbeaten streak of the Eastern Conference Hurricanes (3-5-2).

The Chiefs played an uneven game through 2 1/2 periods. But the game was tied at 3 midway through the third period when Spokane rose to the occasion with the game on the line.

That’s when Jeff Lynch and his linemates stepped up to take charge. Lynch converted the game-winner at the 9-minute, 42-second mark of the third with a blast from the left circle that grazed the pads of Lethbridge goalie Scott Boland on its way in.

“It was a great play by our whole line,” said Lynch. “We got the puck down low, held a guy up in the corner, the puck came loose and I jumped on it with a quick wrist shot and it was fortunate to go through the legs.”

Lethbridge, as it had done all night, came right back.

The Hurricanes were applying pressure on Spokane’s defense right after Jeff Lynch’s goal when Chiefs goaltender Jim Watt took a step out of his crease to deny a Hurricane shot. As he dove to the ice and bodies flew over him, the puck got sent out of Spokane’s end. As it went back the other way, Spokane had a 3-on-2 break.

Spokane converted as Klassen fed Ned Lukacevic for a one-timer from just inside the blue line that put the game away at the 12:55 mark. The goal came on the power play, which was Spokane’s forte on this night. The Chiefs converted on three of five opportunities with the man advantage and added a short-handed goal.

“I was worried about the time before, where they put it into the five hole,” said Watt. “So, instead of giving him a whole lot of time, I thought I’d just get out there and charge him. I knew I wasn’t going to get the puck, but I looked behind the play and knew we had our guys there, so it looked like the right play. We got lucky and I got an assist, but it’s really not my game to get points.”

It was the first assist of Watt’s WHL career as he also evened his record at 3-3 while making 30 saves. He made some big saves down the stretch after a second period, which was shaky for the Chiefs as a whole.

Chiefs rookie Chris Bruton scored his third goal of the season, with 1:07 remaining, to put the icing on Spokane’s win and ensure the fans received free pizza as part of a promotion.

Klassen summed it up for the Chiefs.

“We had a shaky start, but we talked things over between periods and luckily we had a good third period,” said Klassen.

The Chiefs got off to a quick start with two power-play goals in the first period, both times working the puck patiently around before converting one-timer opportunities. Defenseman Scott Lynch, as usual, had a hand in both goals.

Spokane took a 1-0 lead at the 8:57 mark of the first period when Klassen took a perfect pass from Scott Lynch just below the left circle and put it low, stick-side past starting Lethbridge goalie Aaron Sorochan.

Lethbridge came back quickly, taking advantage of a Spokane defensive breakdown. Kyle Pess found a seam just outside the crease and snuck a shot past Watt to the low glove side at the 13:59 mark to make it 1-all.

The Chiefs would then chase Sorochan just four minutes later when they converted the second of their three power-play opportunities in the period. Defenseman Joe Logan got his first goal with the Chiefs when he blasted a shot from the right point that whizzed by Sorochan low, stick-side.

Spokane’s defense was tight, not allowing a Lethbridge shot until the 13:31 mark of the period. The Chiefs would end up outshooting Lethbridge 11-5 in the period, but would start the second shorthanded. It didn’t get much better from there.

The Hurricanes came on strong, outshooting Spokane 17-8 in the period and controlling play for the majority of the period. Spokane took the lead again, at the 11:21 mark of the period, when Klassen got his second goal of the game and team-high fourth of year with a short-handed score.

Lethbridge came back 18 seconds later, however, while still on the power play, when John Lammers put one in from the right point to tie it at 3. The period would end that way.

Spokane’s late flurry allowed them to outshoot Lethbridge 35-33 in the game.

The Chiefs next host Vancouver on Friday night at the Arena.

Ice chips

Recently acquired forward Kyle Howarth was again scratched for the Chiefs and has yet to make his debut with the team. He is day-to-day with an ankle injury. … European import forward Michael Grabner is still healing from a separated shoulder sustained in the first exhibition game.