Another Pickard stops Chiefs

KENNEWICK – It’s been a long time since the Spokane Chiefs have been on a losing streak.

To be precise, it has been since the beginning of January, when Spokane lost three straight games, that the Chiefs have dropped more than one contest in a row.

This weekend the Pickard brothers changed all that.

On Friday night, Calvin Pickard and the Seattle Thunderbirds put an end to Spokane’s five-game winning streak by shutting out the Chiefs in Kent, Wash.

On Saturday night, Chet Pickard – Calvin’s older brother – stopped 41 shots and Mitch Fadden and Taylor Procyshen scored first-period goals to lead the Tri-City Americans to a 2-1 Western Hockey League victory over their U.S. Division rivals at the Toyota Center.

It took just 14 seconds for Fadden to get Tri-City on the board in the first period when he wristed the puck over the left shoulder of Chiefs goalie Dustin Tokarski, who finished with 34 saves.

Procyshen scored midway through the period to add to Tri-City’s lead when he tipped in Adam Hughesman’s shot from the high slot.

Spokane didn’t score until late in the second period.

With the Americans on the power play because of Chiefs defenseman Jared Spurgeon’s hooking penalty, Mitch Wahl took possession of the puck in the neutral zone and finished off his breakaway with a shorthanded goal 13:55 into the middle period to pull Spokane within one goal.

The game was in reach thanks to Wahl’s goal, but also because of the outstanding play of Tokarski – who started in net for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships in late December through early January and was backed up by the elder Pickard.

Tokarski stopped two Procyshen breakaways in the second period and also made a nice save on a point-blank shot from Justin Feser. Jarrett Toll came out of the penalty box later in the period and went in for a 1-on-1 with Tokarski and was shut down.

“Maybe I taught him something at the World juniors,” Pickard joked during a television interview following the game. “But in all seriousness, Dustin is a great goalie and he kept their team in there.”

The Americans (42-16-0-3, 87 points) have a six-point lead over the Chiefs for the U.S. Division lead.

Spokane (39-18-0-3, 81 points) still has one game in hand and plays Tri-City three more times this season.