Chiefs whip Tips
Sometimes you don’t need a man advantage to be on the power play.
Sometimes it’s just a matter of playing downhill.
The Spokane Chiefs kept the pressure on Everett goaltender Kent Simpson in that fashion Friday night and turned it into a 5-0 Western Hockey League rout at the Arena, finding their misplaced power play in the process and coming up with all sorts of amusements to keep 5,245 customers happy.
There was a spectacular spot of 1-against-3 playmaking by Mitch Wahl that produced a highlight-reel second-period goal, and all manner of 5-on-3s to provide a little tension in a one-sided game – even a 6-on-3 the Chiefs had to kill off in the game’s final 20 seconds.
Almost an afterthought was the second consecutive home shutout by goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who turned back 30 Everett shots for career shutout No. 11, a club record.
Tokarski didn’t have to be an acrobat to get into the record book, but there was drama.
Killing off the 6-on-3 blitz in the game’s final moments was simply to keep the score sheet clean, but late in the second period the Chiefs faced a 5-on-3 with a 2-0 lead and staring at a potential game-turning moment. What’s more, Tokarski’s first three killers – Stefan Ulmer, Trevor Glass and Tyler Johnson – were stuck on the ice for a full 90 seconds. But Tokarski made a couple of solid saves, and Glass finally swept the puck out of the zone. Everett’s best chance to stay close was gone.
“You’ve just got to stay calm and trust your D-men,” Tokarski said. “They’ve got the back door and you have to make the first save and they’ll clear the rebound. The guys … were unreal.”
Unreal was a pretty good description of the goal that broke the game open just a minute after the Chiefs had killed that 5-on-3.
Seth Compton found Wahl with a pass from the defensive zone, but Everett’s Chris de la Lande, Paul van de Velde and Drew McDermott all remained in Wahl’s way in one fashion or another. Somehow, Wahl got through them – putting McDermott away by poking the puck between his legs, then flicking a shot past Simpson’s glove for his team-leading fifth goal.
“I kind of got a little lucky, getting it between his legs,” Wahl said. “When you get a little open ice, your eyes get a little bigger – you get a little excited. When I got around him all alone, that was a good feeling.”
Noted Chiefs coach Hardy Sauter, “It’s nice to have structure and a plan, but every once in a while it’s nice to see an individual effort of that caliber.”
The plan this night was offensive pressure – Spokane turned it up early and overwhelmed Simpson with 50 shots. After killing off a quick penalty the Chiefs took control, and made a bit of a statement when Johnson took a soft vertical pass from Mike Reddington and backhanded in for the first goal, at 8:17.
It came just 7 seconds into Spokane’s first power play – after the Chiefs had started the season 1 of 17 with a man advantage, next to last in the WHL. Jared Cowen knocked home another in the third period, a long blast after a pretty move to get clear with the Chiefs on a score-at-will power play after Everett’s Tyler Parker took a 5-minute penalty for kneeing Reddington and a game misconduct for dessert.
“It’s been maybe not a concern, but a little bit of a priority for the last three or four days anyway,” Sauter said. “It was nice to see a couple go in.
Drayson Bowman and Blake Gal also scored for the Chiefs.