Bruins’ third period sends Chiefs to loss
CHILLIWACK, British Columbia – The Spokane Chiefs just couldn’t hold on to this one.
The Chiefs gave up a 2-1 lead and Chilliwack scored four goals in the final period to defeat Spokane 5-3 Wednesday.
Leading 2-1 after two periods of play, referees waved off a Derek Ryan goal 1 minute into the third period and Oscar Moller tied the score at 2 with a goal less than a minute later.
David Rutherford scored the Chiefs’ final goal, giving Spokane a 3-2 lead.
Mark Santorelli tied things back up at 3 with a power-play goal and Matt Meropoulis netted the go-ahead score with 4 minutes left to play. Cody Smuk added an insurance goal with less than a minute to play.
With the win, the expansion Bruins (24-40-4-2) secured a playoff berth. The Chiefs (35-27-4-4) will finish in fourth place in the U.S. Division and will open playoffs next weekend at Everett.
Bruins 5, Chiefs 3
| Spokane | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 3 |
| Chilliwack | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | 5 |
First Period—1, Spo, L.Koper (2) (Szaszkiewicz, Esposito), 4:20. Second Period—2, Spo, Ryan (26) (Blackwater, Langkow), 4:26. 3, Chi, Santorelli (28) (Moller), 15:36. Third Period—4, Chi, Moller (31) (Aspenlind, Santorelli), 1:38. 5, Spo, Rutherford (29), 8:23. 6, Chi, Santorelli (29) (Petkau) PP. 7, Chi, Meropoulis (3) (Bhungal), 16:05. 8, Chi, Smuk (5) (Moller), 19:34.
Power-play Opp.—Spokane 0 of 5; Chilliwack 1 of 6. Saves—Spokane, Tokarski 12-11-1-1—25. Chilliwack, Esposito 14-14-2-1—31. A—5,116.