Jordan Gustafson scores hat trick, Spokane Chiefs fall at home to Lethbridge 4-2

Jordan Gustafson has played only three games this season, but he made his presence felt Saturday night.

Gustafson scored three goals and the Lethbridge Hurricanes downed the Spokane Chiefs 4-2 in a Western Hockey League game at the Arena on Saturday.

Gustafson, a third-round pick of the Las Vegas Golden Knights, has spent the season on the injured list and was recently activated.

The Chiefs (29-15-0-0) saw a three-game win streak snapped. The Hurricanes (26-14-1-1) won their seventh in a row.

It’s the first game Lethbridge coach Bill Peters has coached in Spokane since he led the Chiefs to the Memorial Cup championship in 2008. Peters won 111 regular-season games in three seasons in Spokane.

The Chiefs got on the board less than three minutes in when a Lethbridge turnover resulted in a tic-tac-toe exchange between Andrew Cristall, Shea Van Olm and Berkly Catton, with the Chiefs’ captain converting for his 20th goal of the season.

With the Chiefs on a power play, Gustafson broke away on the rush and beat Dawson Cowan unassisted for his second goal of the season to tie it just 1 minute, 51 seconds after the Catton goal.

With 1:52 left in the first period, Cristall sent Van Olm to the net with a feed and he snapped it top shelf for his league-leading 33rd goal of the season. Gustafson tied it again midway through the second period, sending a wrist shot past Cowan from the left -wing circle.

The Hurricanes bottled up Spokane’s offense in the third period, and it paid off at the 8:17 mark when their counterattack caught the Chiefs flatfooted. Logan Wormald found Logan McCutcheon streaking through the slot for his seventh goal of the season and a 3-2 lead.

Gustafson completed his hat trick with 53 seconds left on an empty-net goal.

Lethbridge goalie Jackson Unger made 28 saves, 12 in the third period to secure the win. Cowan made 24 saves in the loss.