Kootenay tops Chiefs in shootout

CRANBROOK, B.C. – Tanner Lishchynsky’s wrist shot through traffic found the back of the net with 3 seconds left in the third period, and Matt Alfaro and Jesse Zaharichuk scored shootout goals to lift the Kootenay Ice past the Spokane Chiefs 3-2 in Western Hockey League play Friday at Western Financial Place.

Chiefs Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Dominic Zwerger failed to score on their shootout tries. The loss was Spokane’s third straight.

After Kootenay’s River Beattie scored a power-play goal early in the first period, Spokane’s Hayden Ostir scored his first career goal to knot the game at 1.

Hudson Elynuik put the Chiefs ahead 2-1 midway through the third period before Lishchynsky tied it in the closing seconds.

Goaltender Tyson Verhelst stopped 27 of 29 shots for Spokane, which had a 42-30 shot advantage. Kootenay (10-41-4-0) goaltender Declan Hobbs stopped 40 of 42 shots.

Spokane (26-21-4-3) is two points behind the Seattle Thunderbirds for second place in the WHL’s U.S. Division. The Chiefs play Kootenay tonight at 7:05 at the Arena.