Another Giant chance?
The Western Hockey League’s top-ranked team comes into town tonight, three weeks to the day after Spokane reached a watershed mark in its season with a comeback win over these same Vancouver Giants.
Vancouver sprinted to a 3-0 lead over Spokane on Jan. 25 before the Chiefs rallied for five goals to earn a win which ended a season-high, seven-game winless streak. Although the Chiefs would close out January with three losses, the win over Vancouver built the foundation for a February that has been much more productive.
The Chiefs have won three of their last five games (including a shootout loss) to climb back into the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the WHL’s U.S. Division.
Spokane (21-27-4-3, 49 points) is tied for the final spot with Portland and trails third-place Tri-City (51) by just two points.
Spokane has entered the quarter-mark homestretch of the 72-game schedule, with just 17 games (seven home, 10 road) remaining in the regular season.
In addition to tonight’s game, the Chiefs play two division road games this week, including their final game against division leader Everett (Friday) and their final game at Tri-City (Saturday).
The Chiefs’ resurgence has been marked by a stabilizing blue line corps – newcomer Evan Haw bolstering a defensive unit anchored all season by players such as Jason Lynch, Sean Zimmerman and rookie Jared Spurgeon. Two others, Matt McCue and Dan Mercer, have battled injuries before making recent returns alongside emerging youngster Justin Falk.
Up front, a trio of leading scorers – Derek Ryan, Adam Hobson, and Michael Grabner – has been backed up by a cast of supporting players that has made contributions at critical moments. Players such as Johannes Salmonsson, Chris Bruton, Drayson Bowman, Brad Erickson and Judd Blackwater have a knack for getting a goal at a moment which can often change a game’s momentum.
Five of those players have been consistent and appeared in all 55 games for the Chiefs this season: Ryan, Hobson, Bruton, Bowman and Zimmerman.
The end result is that Spokane has been getting consistent performances from its top two lines and steady efforts from its third line. Injuries have shortened the bench to the degree that there has not been an option to play a fourth line.
Peters has consistently said his team has played better recently, win or lose.
The Chiefs have been competitive all season, as 41 of their 55 contests have been one-goal games at some point of the third period, and 25 of those have ended in one-goal finals.
Perhaps most important, the Chiefs have been getting more consistent goaltending since acquiring Kevin Armstrong at the trade deadline, while backup Thomas Stehr remains steady.
• Injury update: Jeff Lynch (shoulder, indefinite); David Linsley (hand, 7-10 days); Phil Magistrale (knee, week-to-week); Dan Mercer (leg, day-to-day).