Andrew Cristall, Shea Van Olm notch hat tricks; Spokane Chiefs rout Wenatchee on the road 12-2
From staff reports
WENATCHEE – When the Spokane Chiefs executed a blockbuster trade with Kelowna for winger Andrew Cristall last week, even in their wildest dreams they could not have envisioned what transpired Saturday.
The newly formed line of Cristall, Chiefs captain Berkly Catton and Western Hockey League-leading goal scorer Shea Van Olm combined for seven goals , leading the Chiefs in a 12-2 rout of the Wenatchee Wild at Town Toyota Center.
Van Olm scored three goals with two assists, Cristall had three goals and four assists and Catton scored a goal with six assists. The Chiefs went 5 of 6 on the power play.
It didn’t take long for the trio to click. Just 6 minutes in, Van Olm slid a cross-ice pass to Catton on the left wing, who sent it back to the other side for Cristall, whose left-handed one-timer beat goalie Brendan Gee for a power-play goal – his first with the Chiefs and 27th of the season.
Later in the period, Cristall gathered the puck along the right wing wall and sprung Catton on the rush down the left wing. Catton carried into the Wenatchee zone and fed Van Olm, who buried it for his 29th goal of the season at 13:55 of the first.
Sam Oremba made it 3-0 just 43 seconds later, slipping the puck short side against Gee for his 11th goal of the season.
The high-flying Van Olm-Catton-Cristall line made good again just 44 seconds into the second period. Catton left the puck for Cristall at the blue line and the newest Chiefs forward found Van Olm on the far post. Van Olm needed two whacks at it, but he finally got it underneath Gee for his 30th goal of the season.
Catton made it 6-1 with 8:28 left in the period. Van Olm won a puck along the boards and dumped it low to Cristall, who found Catton streaking across the crease for his 15th goal of the season.
Wenatchee was assessed a 5 minute major check-to-the-head penalty late in the second. Skating five-on-three, the Chiefs circled the puck until Catton found Cristall alone, who went top shelf for his second of the game. Oremba scored his second of the game a few moments later to make it 8-2.
Smyth Rebman scored on the extended power play early in the third, then Van Olm completed his hat trick – on assists by Cristall and Catton – to make it 10-2 just after the major penalty expired for his 31st of the season. Cristall’s 29th of the year came 6 minutes into the final period and Asanali Sarkenov made it an even dozen with just less than 4 minutes to go.
Carter Esler quietly made 31 for the win.