Chiefs defeat Royals, run win streak to four

No, revenge was not the motivating factor when the Spokane Chiefs met the Victoria Royals on Wednesday.

Continuing a season-long winning streak was the bigger goal, and Victoria just happened to be in the way.

Calder Brooks totaled two goals and one assist, Kailer Yamamoto added three assists and Garret Hughson made 30 saves as the Chiefs improved their winning streak to four games with a 4-2 Western Hockey League win at the Arena.

“Anytime you get a four-game winning streak, you have to be happy about that,” Brooks said. “Obviously, we’re doing something right, but at the same time we have to watch video and find out what we’re not doing right and correct those.”

The teams met for the first time since the Royals swept the Chiefs in the first round of the 2013-14 WHL playoffs.

“I don’t think (revenge) came into effect at all,” Chiefs coach Don Nachbaur said. “We’re 23 games into the season and we didn’t think of that.”

Spokane improved to 13-7-3-0, 29 points, and moved past the Tri-City Americans into second place in the U.S. Division. The Chiefs have allowed five goals during the streak.

“We’re playing really well defensively and that goes back to sound fundamentals,” said Hughson, who improved to 9-6-3-0. … “It was nice to beat them after they won pretty early in the (playoff) series (last season).

The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead at 2:48 of the first on Brooks’ ninth goal of the season, assisted by Adam Helewka and Yamamoto. Late in the period, a Spokane defensive breakdown allowed Greg Chase to skate free alone out front. His goal at 16:46 tied the game at 1.

Shots (4-4) were at a premium during the first half of the second period. Victoria’s first power-play chance came at 10:21, but Spokane killed the attempt to preserve the 1-all tie before taking command.

Jason Fram broke the tie with a long shot from near the blue line at 15:03. Four minutes later, Helewka scored his team-leading 13th goal from out front for a 3-1 edge.

Austin Carroll scored his team-leading 18th goal for the Royals with 11:49 left.

The Royals got a late power play, but Yamamoto disrupted the man advantage with a steal that set up a penalty shot with 4:36 left. Although Coleman Vollrath stopped the shot, the Chiefs killed the power play.

Victoria pulled Vollrath with about 1:20 to play. Brooks’ empty-netter at 19:23 sealed the win.

Spokane and the Royals will play three more regular-season games, including Jan. 2 and 3 at Victoria.

The Chiefs will host the Lethbridge Hurricanes on Saturday. Spokane won last year’s single matchup with Lethbridge 6-2. Lethbridge broke a nine-game losing streak on Wednesday.

Notes

Victoria captain Joe Hicketts (34 points) is the top-scoring defenseman in the league. … The Chiefs rank third in the league in penalty kill (86.9 percent) but 17th in power plays (17 percent). … Chiefs captain Jason Fram recorded his 100th career point with an assist against Kamloops on Sunday.