Chiefs top Thunderbirds, move into fourth place

From wire reports

SEATTLE – Danny Lapointe scored a shorthanded goal after a steal and assist by Kyle Howarth to lift the Spokane Chiefs to a 4-2 win over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Western Hockey League play on Wednesday night at KeyArena.

Howarth finished with a goal and two assists for the Chiefs.

Lapointe, a former Seattle player, scored his second goal of the season at 6:51 of the second period and Chad Klassen added an empty-net goal for the Chiefs. He added an assist.

Seattle took an early two-goal lead on a pair of first-period power play scores by Bretton Stamler and Mitch Fadden.

Spokane evened the score with a pair of even-strength goals by Howarth and Jevon Desautels.

The loss was the fourth straight for Seattle (34-18-0-1), the longest losing streak of the season for the T-birds.

With the win, Spokane (19-25-8-1, 47 points) moved out of the cellar of the U.S. Division. Tri-City (46 points) was a 1-0 loser to Kootenay.

Seattle outshot Spokane 38-15 in the game with Spokane goaltender Jim Watt making 36 saves. Bryan Bridges lost for the third straight time to fall to 27-14 on the season.

Chiefs 4, Thunderbirds 2

First period–1, Sea, Stamler 1 (Jackson, Gagnon) 10:00 (pp); 2, Sea, Fadden 8 15:32 (pp); 3, Spo, Howarth 12 (Bruton, Lynch) 16:00; 4, Spo, Desautels 12 (Howarth, Lapointe) 18:11. Key penalties – Mercer, Spo (boarding) 8:14; Lukacevic, Spo (slashing) 14:47.

Second period– 5, Spo, Lapointe 2 (Howarth) 6:51 (sh).

Third period– 6, Spo, Klassen 24 (Watt) 19:49 (en).

Power-play opportunities–Spokane 0 of 6; Seattle 2 of 7. Saves–Spokane, Watt 15-11-10–36. Seattle, Bridges 3-5-3–11. A–2,853.