Spokane tops Giants

The Spokane Chiefs notched a big Western Hockey League win Wednesday night at the Spokane Arena, knocking off Western Conference-leading Vancouver in an overtime shootout.

The Chiefs were led by Derek Ryan, who had two goals in regulation and the only make in the shootout following five minutes of overtime. David Rutherford, the ex-Giant, added a goal. Ondrej Roman had two assists.

The victory was the first for Spokane in four meetings with Vancouver and capped a 4-1 homestand.

For Rutherford, who played with Vancouver last season, the victory was memorable.

“That one ranks as one of the best memories I’ll have in my hockey career,” Rutherford said. “That ranks right up there with winning the championship with those guys last year.”

The game started out rocky.

Vancouver outshot the Chiefs 19-8 over the first 20 minutes, taking a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. After that, though, Spokane played the Giants even – playing the majority of the final two periods in Vancouver’s end.

“I wasn’t happy with our first period, that’s for sure,” coach Bill Peters said. “That’s what happens when you have too much respect for a team.

“I think we earned the right to be more confident the last 45 minutes.”

Ryan notched his first goal in the first period, finding himself all alone between the face-off circles and whistling a shot past goaltender Tyson Sexsmith.

Rutherford evened the scoring at 2-2 barely a minute into the third period.

Vancouver went ahead, 3-2 on Michal Repik’s second goal of the game, punching a rebound from the top of the crease in front of Spokane goalie Kevin Armstrong.

Ryan knotted the score again with a power-play goal with just under six minutes left in regulation, taking a textbook drop pass from Roman and snapping it past an out-of-position Sexsmith.

Ryan scored on Spokane’s first attempt in the shootout, carrying the puck deep into Sexsmith before tucking it neatly under his pads.

Armstrong, meanwhile, turned away all three Vancouver penalty-shot attempts in the shootout.

The secret for Spokane, it would seem, is to survive the 4-on-4 overtime period and get into shootouts. The Chiefs are 0-3 in overtime decisions, but are golden in shootouts. Wednesday’s win was the team’s third straight in a shootout and first at Spokane.

The loss was just the fifth in 25 games for the Giants, who came into the game having won three straight.

Chiefs 4, Giants 3 (SO)

Spokane won shootout 1-0

First Period—1, Van, Kraus 7 (Bouma) 4:22; 2, Spo, Ryan 8 (Roman) 5:18; 3, Van, Repik 10 (Blum, Franson). Second Period—None. Third Period—4, Spo Rutherford 12 (Langkow, Blackwater) 1:18 (pp). 5, Van, Repik 11 (Bliznak, Mikkelson) 7:52 (pp); 6, Spo, Ryan 9 (Roman) 14:07 (pp). Overtime—None. Shootout—Vancouver 0 (Repik, miss; Franson, miss; Watt, miss); Spokane 1 (Ryan, make; Rutherford, miss). Power-play Opp.—Vancouver 1 of 4; Spokane 2 of 6. Saves—Vancouver, Sexsmith 22 saves. Spokane, Armstrong 33 saves. A—4,324.