Chiefs alone in fourth after win over Americans

KENNEWICK, Wash. – All alone in fourth place.

That’s where the Spokane Chiefs find themselves after a 4-2 Western Hockey League victory Saturday over the arch-rival Tri-City Americans at Three Rivers Coliseum.

Spokane (15-20-7-1, 38 points) leads in the race for the last playoff spot in the U.S. Division of the Western Conference over Tri-City (15-20-4-2, 36).

The Chiefs got on the board first, seven minutes into the game, with Michael Grabner’s sixth goal of the year, a blast from the right circle that got past Tri-City goaltender Carey Price.

Tri-City tied the game at 1 with a short-handed goal as Dylan Stanley caught the Chiefs in a shift change and fed the puck to Ian McDonald for the goal at the 12:42 mark of the second period.

Leading scorer Chad Klassen put Spokane back into the lead, at 2-1, with his 22nd goal of the season on a rebound goal at the 11:08 mark of the second period.

The Chiefs put the game out of reach for good at the 12:23 mark of the third period on rookie Chris Bruton’s eighth goal of the season on a give-and-go play with Seth Compton. The play also marked the first point for Dan Lapointe as a Chief.

Tri-City closed to within one goal with 30 seconds remaining when McDonald got his second goal of the night while skating with a 6-on-4 advantage as Sean Zimmerman was in the penalty box for Spokane and the Americans had pulled Price.

However, Spokane would get the goal back as time expired when Jeff Lynch notched his 10th goal of the season into an empty net.

Spokane goalie Jim Watt made 30 saves in net in a game where the Chiefs had a season-low 15 shots.

Chiefs 4, Americans 2

First period–1, Spo, Grabner 6 (Ryan) 7:00.

Second period– 2, TC, McDonald 12 (Stanley, Stoner) 7:05 (sh); 3, Klassen 22 (Desautels, Gladue) 11:08.

Third period– 4, Spo, Bruton 8 (Lapointe, Compton) 12:23; 5, TC, McDonald 13 (Stoner, Stanley) 19:30 (pp); 6, Spo, Je Lynch 10 (en) 20:00. Key penalty – Zimmerman, Spo (closing hand on puck) 18:25.

Power-play opportunities–Spokane 0 of 6, Tri-City 1 of 7. Saves–Spokane, Watt 10-10-10–30; Tri-City, Price 4-3-4–11. A–5,730.