Raiders deflect Chiefs’ many shots

The Spokane Chiefs did a lot – but not all – of the little things right, and it added up to a lot of frustration.

Spokane outshot its opponent on Saturday night by a wide margin (47-28) but still fell to the Prince Albert Raiders 3-2 in a Western Hockey League game before 6,320 on Saturday night at the Arena.

Spokane (2-3) entered the game averaging two goals per game, which is exactly what it got thanks to a meaningless goal by Chad Klassen with just 1 second left on the clock and Spokane goalie Jim Watt pulled.

The Chiefs are struggling to score goals, both at even strength and on the power play, and their coach said it’s no mystery.

“I thought there were a lot of times tonight where we’re still too cute and we won’t put it on net,” said Chiefs coach Bill Peters. “We’ve scored 10 times this season and when you look at them … they’re all just when we’re getting our noses dirty and coming to the net.

“We don’t do it for a full 60 minutes and that’s why we haven’t been able to score consistently.”

After a scoreless first period, Spokane’s Derek Ryan got the scoring started with an unassisted goal at the 5:07 mark of the second. The score was a remarkable one-man effort, as the second-year player from Spokane eluded the Raiders defense, handled the puck behind the net, and brought it around the left post to score.

It was Ryan’s first goal of the season – and he said he felt some pressure to get on the board for his team.

“That goalie was letting up some huge rebounds and we weren’t getting there,” said Ryan. “We need to go to the net more and shoot to score, not just get a shot.”

Prince Albert responded with two goals in the second period, by Dane Byers (at the 9:03 mark) and Jeff May (at 16:54, on the power play, after a roughing call on Spokane captain Jeff Lynch).

That’s the way the teams entered the third period, with Spokane down by a goal despite having outshot its opponent by a 30-19 margin after 40 minutes.

The Chiefs had an opportunity early, as Prince Albert goalie Alex Archibald lost his stick and played without it for nearly 2 minutes, but Spokane couldn’t convert.

The Raiders put the game out of reach at the 10:39 mark of the third period after a timeout by their coach, on a goal by Brad Erickson.

Archibald finished with 46 saves in goal for Prince Albert. Watt had 25 stops in net for Spokane.

Engman goes pro

Twenty-year-old defenseman Gustav Engman has signed a minor league contract with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. Engman earned a tryout with the Moose after attending the Vancouver Canucks training camp as a free agent.

Engman had played the past two seasons in Spokane, appearing in 126 games. He was the Chiefs’ first-round selection in the 2003 CHL Import Draft and played 58 games in his rookie season, as the leading scorer among Chiefs defensemen with eight goals.

Raiders 3, Chiefs 2

First Period — None.

Second Period — 1, Spokane, Ryan 1, 5:07. 2, Prince Albert, Byers 2 (Hellyer), 9:02. 3, Prince Albert, May 2 (Chipchura, Thelen), 16:54 (pp).

Third Period — 4, Prince Albert, Erickson 2 (Byers, Hellyer), 10:39. 5, Spokane, Klassen 3 (Grabner), 19:59.

Power-play Opp.—Prince Albert 0 of 2; Spokane 0 of 5. Saves —Prince Albert, Archibald (W, 2-2-0-2) 14-15-17—46. Spokane, Watt (L, 2-3) 10-7-8—25. A—6,320.