Chiefs deck Rockets

The Spokane Chiefs are on a roll.

Derek Ryan’s 5-on-3 power-play goal just 22 seconds into the second period lifted the Spokane Chiefs to a 3-1 Western Hockey League win over the Kelowna Rockets on Saturday night at the Spokane Arena.

And, if that wasn’t enough, they were buoyed by the news that two of their stars may be back on the ice next week. Michael Grabner will skate on Monday to test his hip and Adam Hobson had a postgame ice session to test his injured knee, which went well. Meanwhile, Spokane’s other stars continued their tears and earned a day off.

Ryan’s goal gave Spokane a 2-1 lead, then Drayson Bowman added the second of his two goals at the 16:39 mark of the third (also on the power play) for the insurance goal. The win gave Spokane (13-10-3-1) a 7-1 mark at home in the month of November.

Ryan also added an assist and Ondrej Roman had another two-assist night to lead the way offensively for Spokane. The Chiefs allowed just 15 shots on goal from Kelowna.

Kelowna (8-15-1-2) took the initial lead, 1-0, on a power-play goal with just 1:24 remaining in the first period.

The goal came when a pass intended for a streaking Drayson Bowman in the neutral zone was intercepted at the Spokane blue line by former Chief David Schulz. The Rockets defenseman then worked the 5-on-3 advantage in the zone with a pass down low to Troy Ofukany.

And Kelowna’s leading scorer knew what to do with it. He got his fourth goal in four games against the Chiefs this season, deking Spokane goaltender Kevin Armstrong before putting it into the net off the backhand.

Spokane committed four penalties in the tightly contested period, to just one for Kelowna, and that was the difference in the period.

The Chiefs would come back to tie the game in the second period, as the teams played a hard-checking and mostly disciplined period. The Chiefs took the game to the Rockets for much of the second, outshooting them 11-5, but missed on some close-in chances that would have extended their lead.

After killing off a penalty to start the period, the Chiefs came out with some jump on the ensuing shifts. Bowman tied the game at 1 when he took in a hard pass from the point by Dan Mercer, settled it on his stick, and buried a wrist shot from the right slot – high to the glove side of Kristofer Westblom – at the 3:25 mark.

The Rockets lost their cool as more hitting worked its way into the game midway through the period. They committed four penalties in the final 6:32. Schulz committed the last one, with just a second left, to give the Chiefs a big 5-on-3 to start the third.

Chiefs 3, Rockets 1

First Period – 1, Kel, Ofukany 12 (Schulz) 18:36 (pp); Second Period – 1, Spo, Bowman 11 (Blackwater, Roman); Third Period – 3, Spo, Ryan 11 (Roman, Blackwater) 0:22 (pp); 4, Spo, Bowman 12 (Roman) 16:39 (pp).

Power-play Opp. – Kelowna 1 of 7; Spokane 2 of 6. Saves – Kelowna, Westblom 24 saves. Spokane, Armstrong 14 saves. A – 6,248.