Blazers deny Chiefs 1,000th victory

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – Kale Kessy’s career-high night, with two goals and three assists, helped the Kamloops Blazers continue their home dominance Friday with a 7-4 Western Hockey League win over the Spokane Chiefs.

Colin Smith recorded four assists and his 35th goal for the Blazers, who improved to 20-4-1-1 at home and 34-15-2-3 (73 points) overall. Smith is tied with Spokane’s Todd Fiddler for second place in league goals.

The Blazers’ Tim Bozon added two goals and two assists.

Kamloops’ victory denied the Chiefs their 1,000th win in franchise history. The Chiefs (30-19-2-0, 62 points) also dropped to fifth place in Western Conference rankings when Tri-City (30-19-1-2, 63) won in a shootout.

Mitch Holmberg had his third career hat trick for Spokane, which lost for the seventh time in 10 games. Holmberg reached the 30-goal mark. His first goal, on a power play, makes the Chiefs 2 for 33 with an extra man in their last seven games.

Mike Aviani assisted on all three Holmberg goals.

The Chiefs lost defenseman Jason Fram to a left ankle injury in the second period.