Chiefs douse Blazers, move up in standings

Something made an appearance that hasn’t been present much in recent years at the Spokane Arena: a playoff-like atmosphere.

It was signified most poignantly by the long-absent “wave” making its way around the building near the end of the second period, which was soon followed by the crowd sending its team off the ice at the end of the period with an ovation and a two-goal lead.

Then the Spokane Chiefs made it stand up, defeating the Kamloops Blazers 6-3 on Saturday in a Western Hockey League game.

Spokane (21-27-4-3, 49 points) kept its playoff hopes alive – moving into fourth place in the U.S. Division with the win and yet another loss by Portland (47). Spokane is also just two points behind rival Tri-City (51), also a loser on the road.

The matchup was the type that could be expected from teams fighting for their playoff lives that don’t like each other much. The teams had a line brawl in their last Arena matchup and were again near that point several times.

But the Chiefs showed some discipline and composure which hasn’t always been there this season, breaking open a 1-all game after two periods with a pair of goals just 1:16 apart to take control of the game.

After a first period in which each team scored a power-play goal and combined for 46 penalty minutes, Spokane broke open a game that was drifting toward boredom in the first 10 minutes of the second period with Kamloops showing signs of taking charge.

That all changed when the grinder line of Judd Blackwater, Brad Erickson and Seth Compton woke their teammates – and the crowd – from their slumbers with a top-shelf, back-handed goal high to the glove side of Kamloops goaltender Michael Maniago at the 10:54 mark.

On the ensuing shift, Michael Grabner scored his team-high 22nd goal of the season with his back-handed, glove-side goal after he sprinted up the ice and split the Kamloops defense to give the Chiefs a 3-1 lead.

It didn’t come without a little drama, as Kamloops rallied twice in the final 20 minutes.

The Blazers got a goal by Moses Gutierrez just 2:58 into the period to make it 3-2, but Chiefs assistant captains Adam Hobson and Derek Ryan scored goals just 18 seconds apart (at 8:02 and 8:20, respectively) to give Spokane a 5-2 lead which would stand.

Kamloops got a short-handed, unassisted goal by Ashton Rome at 10:39. The scoring was closed out by Grabner with an empty-net goal set up by linemates Derek Ryan and Adam Hobson with 1:12 remaining.

In the first period, Spokane initially took the lead on a power-play goal by rookie Drayson Bowman (at 5:36) before Kamloops’ Brock Nixon responded (at 8:29). Two fights broke out at the 17:23 mark, but cooler heads prevailed.

Chiefs 6, Blazers 3

First Period—1, Spo, Bowman 13 (Salmonsson, Ryan) 5:36 (pp); 2, Kam, Nixon 18 (Mulock, Bartley) 8:19 (pp).

Second Period—3, Spo, Blackwater 4 10:54; 4, Spo, Grabner 22 (Hobson, Mercer) 12:10.

Third Period—5, Kam, Gutierrez 13 (Stretch) 2:58; 6, Spo, Hobson 19 (Grabner) 8:02; 7, Spo, Ryan 22 (Bowman, McCue) 8:20; 8, Kam, Rome 24 10:39 (sh); 9, Spo, Grabner 23 (Ryan, Hobson) 18:48 (en)..

Power-play Opp.—Kamloops 1 of 6; Spokane 1 of 5. Saves—Kamloops, Maniago 24 saves. Spokane, Armstrong 19 saves. A—8,110.