Blazers take out Chiefs

The Spokane Chiefs didn’t show much life through two periods Wednesday night, so the Kamloops Blazers went for the kill early in the third.

Kamloops, which had the only goal through 40 minutes, took care of business in the final 20 minutes and won its seventh straight Western Hockey League game, 3-0 over the Chiefs at the Arena.

Alex Rodgers’ goal at the 9-minute, 6-second mark of the first period stood up as the winner for the Blazers.

Dustin Butler had 21 saves in a shutout as Kamloops (30-10-1-1, 62 points) moved to within a point of Vancouver for the lead in the B.C. Division.

Spokane (21-15-3-2, 47 points) fell into fourth place in the U.S. Division with the loss because Tri-City beat Chilliwack 4-1.

The Blazers didn’t have their “A” game, but they responded in a manner that befits their No. 5 ranking among Canadian Hockey League teams.

Leading 1-0 entering the third, Kamloops padded its lead just 1:28 into the final period on a goal by Tyler Shattock. The Blazers had given Spokane every chance to tie the game in the previous period, but the Chiefs didn’t respond.

In the second period, Kamloops put the Chiefs on four consecutive power plays, but Spokane struggled to get off shots – forget scoring goals.

“We just didn’t have the emotion, the tenacity, the grit and hard work,” said Chiefs assistant captain Chris Bruton.

That is not to say the Chiefs didn’t have their chances. Spokane had open looks at the net from close range on each man-advantage situation. Mitch Wahl and Ondrej Roman missed once and Derek Ryan missed twice as the Chiefs struggled to finish around the net.

In the end, it was a lack of hitting and emotion that ultimately cost the Chiefs. They managed to show a little spark, but it was after the outcome was decided. Kamloops had already extended its lead to 3-0 on a goal by Terrance Delaronde at the 16:28 mark to put the game out of reach.

With 2:46 left in the game, the teams got into a six-player scrum after Chiefs players took exception to a hit from behind near the Spokane bench by Matt Kassian on Bruton. The incident ended with a Kamloops player pointing to the scoreboard, the worst burn of all on this night.

Despite the loss, Spokane rookie Mike Reddington tried to salvage a little pride for the Chiefs when he took out Kamloops’ Ivan Rohac with just 25.2 seconds remaining. It was nearly the lone opportunity for the Chiefs fans and bench to cheer their team.

“I think we stuck together as a team, but I guess we really only showed that at the end,” said Bruton. “As a team, you have to be behind each other and you have to work within the system as a team.”

Spokane played the game without Michael Grabner, who was out with the flu.

Three Chiefs ranked

Three Chiefs are ranked as National Hockey League draft prospects in the latest Central Scouting Bureau mid-season rankings.

Forward Drayson Bowman (44th), defenseman Justin Falk (112th), and Euro Ondrej Roman (136th) are all rated among North American skaters in ratings for the 2007 NHL Entry draft.

“I just want to play consistently and play for the team,” said Falk, who has been a steady presence on the blue line. “It’s just a number, a ranking, but I guess I’ll use it as motivation to keep working hard.”

Blazers 3, Chiefs 0

First Period—1, Kam, Rodgers 6 (Macias, Hall) 9:06. Second Period—None. Third Period—2, Kam, Shattock 5 (Stretch) 1:28; 3, Kam, Delaronde 8 (Shattock, Stretch) 16:28.

Power-play Opp.—Kamloops 0 of 5; Spokane 0 of 5. Saves—Kamloops, Butler 21. Spokane, Tokarski 25. A—3,650.