WHL Championship: Spokane Chiefs look to bounce back ‘ready to go’ in Game 2 at Medicine Hat

MEDICINE HAT, Alberta – Spokane Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said his team was “a little bit late” in Game 1 of the Western Hockey League championship.

“I think, obviously, this was a different stage for us,” he added. “I think we understand what it’s about now.”

The Chiefs hope that now that they have seen it, they’ll be ready for Game 2 on Sunday.

In a loud and emotional Co-op Place Friday night, the Medicine Hat Tigers came out of the room with an extra jump, learning earlier in the day that star forwards Cayden Lindstrom and Andrew Basha both returned from long-standing injuries.

That jump translated into two goals in the first 6 ½ minutes – one by Basha – and the Chiefs never recovered.

“(I’m) not saying we weren’t ready,” Lauer said. “I think we just kind of wanted to see what it was going to be about. And, you know, (Medicine Hat) came out hard.”

“I thought that we had a good start, which was huge for us,” Medicine Hat coach Willie Dejardins said. “I thought it was really exciting (Basha) scoring on his first shift. That’s about as good as you can start. For sure, it’s going to be exciting having them in the lineup.”

“It was crazy, for sure,” Basha said. “The boys have been talking about how loud (Co-op Place) has been. When we came out and saw the lights and stuff, I was just kind of revving for that first shift.”

Chiefs captain Berkly Catton acknowledged how the Tigers pounced early and how it affected the rest of the game.

“Obviously, it’s a big stage, but it is just hockey at the end of the day,” Catton said. “I think that start was a little shaky, and we played from behind most of the night. But, you know, I think now we’ve seen it we’ll be ready to go.”

The teams came in with the two highest-scoring offenses in the WHL playoffs, so it only stands to figure it was the lowest-scoring game either team had played in weeks.

But maybe that wasn’t so shocking, as the only game between the teams this season finished 3-2.

“Last time we played these guys, it was a close game,” Lauer said. “It was 2-0 with 10 minutes ago in the third period.”

But then the Chiefs gave up three straight goals. Lauer feels some of things Medicine Hat took advantage of in both games it created, and some of the things the Chiefs allowed.

“It was one of those games, where the mistakes we made, they capitalized on,” he said. “But, you know, there’s definitely firepower on both teams, 100%. But I think we’re also conscious of making sure we play defense first and we’re not just offense.”

The Chiefs’ offense, as is the norm, generated a lot of shots – 37 to 22 for the Tigers. But Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan – who was easily their best player on Friday – saw the tougher chances, especially in the second period when a rash of turnovers led to several odd-man rushes and quality chances for Medicine Hat.

“(Cowan) made some big saves in the second period. We could have been blown open, but he bailed us out, which was nice to see,” Lauer said. “The second period, we turned the puck over way too many times. I think there were seven or eight odd-man rushes we gave up that period. And you can’t do that to that team.”

The one slightly surprising thing might have been how Medicine Hat won 4-1 while the Chiefs limited WHL Player of the Year Gavin McKenna fairly effectively in Game 1.

McKenna had two assists to extend his Major Junior record points streak to 54 games. But Cowan made a solid save on McKenna’s first shot of the game 30 seconds in, then robbed him on a breakaway and corralled the rebound in the second period while the outcome was still in doubt.

But the same can be said for the Chiefs’ top line, which entered play with a combined 39 goals and 61 assists in 15 playoff games. Catton scored a power-play goal on a nice give-and-go with Shea Van Olm, but the line was minus-3 on the evening with good scoring chances few and far between.

“(Medicine Hat) did clog it up very well in their D-zone,” Lauer said. “They do a very good job of pass rushing. I think they put us in some pressure where we weren’t ready to maybe move the puck or shoot the puck.

“There’s some areas in the game we gotta improve on 100% – getting to the net and getting pucks there and looking for those second, third opportunities that we talk about, game in and game out, is one of those areas we’ll definitely focus on.”