Chiefs’ hopes on thin ice

On a night when the Spokane Chiefs “turned back the clock,” time continued to run out for their Western Hockey League playoff hopes.

The Chiefs lost their seventh straight game, 3-0 to the Kootenay Ice in a WHL game on Saturday night at the Arena – a night in which they honored the 1970 and 1972 Allan Cup champion Jets in pregame ceremonies.

Spokane (21-33-5-3, 50 points) lost more ground to fourth-place Portland – which won in a shootout against division-leading Everett.

Spokane is an almost-impossible seven points behind Portland (55) with 10 games left for the final playoff spot out of the U.S. Division of the WHL’s Western Conference.

It doesn’t get any easier from here. Spokane heads out for four games on the road – where it hasn’t won since Dec. 28, 2005, a span of 13 games.

Spokane will play at Vancouver twice, Kelowna and Portland during the next seven days. Four of Spokane’s final six games are at home.

Kootenay took a 2-0 lead after one period on two power-play goals against Spokane’s penalty-kill unit and starting goalie Kevin Armstrong in the first 8:22 of the game. Armstrong was pulled after facing just six shots.

The Ice got their first goal from Ryan Russell, who buried a perfect pass across the crease from captain Adam Cracknell just 3:48 into the game.

Cracknell scored his team’s second goal at the 11:38 mark when he cruised in from the left slot and wristed a shot high to the glove side. Spokane coach Bill Peters then lifted Armstrong in favor of Thomas Stehr.

Stehr steadied the ship for the Chiefs, stopping 23 shots and making some spectacular saves.

Spokane put itself on the penalty-kill way too often in the first half of the period, however, including one stretch in which the team committed three penalties in a span of 1:17 to put the Ice on an extended power play. The Chiefs killed off all the time, but failed to get one past Kootenay goalie Taylor Dakers.

Dakers denied Spokane on several close-in opportunities throughout the game, including a penalty shot awarded to Spokane’s Judd Blackwater at the 2:48 mark of the second. The Chiefs left the ice at the end of the second period still scoreless after having failed to convert on the open looks at the net. The Chiefs continued to be frustrated by Dakers – and frustrate themselves – in the third period, even when they had a 5-on-3 opportunity late in the game. On the limited chances they had, Dakers either made a great save or Spokane missed wide-open looks at the net.

Spokane went 0 for 8 on the power play and put Kootenay on the man-advantage a whopping 10 times, leading to all three goals for the Ice.

Ice 3, Chiefs 0

First Period—1, Ktn, Russell 31 (Cracknell) 3:48 (pp); 2, Ktn, Cracknell 33 (Russell, Busto) 11:38 (pp). Second Period—None. Third Period—3, Ktn, Maxwell 22 (Billsten) 9:29 (pp).

Power-play Opp.—Kootenay 3 of 10; Spokane 0 of 8. Saves—Kootenay, Dakers 30 saves. Spokane, Armstrong 4 saves; Stehr 21 saves. A—8,265.