Chiefs fall at Brandon

BRANDON, Manitoba – Where has all the firepower gone?

The Spokane Chiefs, who averaged more than 3.5 goals a game in their first 21 games, have managed just one goal in each of the last two – and lost them both.

Scott Glennie scored twice, completing the scoring with an open-net goal 57 seconds from the end, to lead the Brandon Wheat Kings to a 4-1 Western Hockey League victory over the Chiefs in front of 3,216 fans Tuesday night in Westman Place.

The loss, following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at Saskatoon, drops the Chiefs to 14-6-0-3 and leaves them with 31 points. They’re still a point ahead of Tri-City atop the U.S. Division, but the Americans have played one less game.

Spokane, which started its six-game Eastern road trip with a 3-2 victory at Prince Albert, tries to get back on the winning track in game four of the swing tonight in Regina.

The Chiefs had a 34-22 shot advantage Tuesday, but except for Drayson Bowman’s slap shot 6:19 into the second period that cut Brandon’s lead to 2-1, couldn’t get a shot past Wheat Kings goalie Andrew Hayes. And few of the other shots gave Hayes’ much of a test.

Bowman stole a Brandon pass and fired home his 10th goal of the season unassisted from the top of the circles.

Glennie scored what proved to be the winning goal 40 seconds into the second period – and 40 seconds into a power play.

Spokane’s Tyler Johnson drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty as the first period ended, putting Brandon on the power play to start the middle period. Johnson was in the process of shooting when the horn sounded. Because he completed the shot, and it sailed in on net, he was assessed a minor penalty.

While Brandon was 1 for 3 on the power play, Spokane was 0-2.

Dustin Tokarski kept the Chiefs close through most of the third period before Brayden Schenn found the back of the net at 17:10 to make it 3-1.

Spokane pulled Tokarski with a little more than a minute to go for an extra skater, but Glennie foiled that strategy with his 11th goal at 19:03.