Spokane Chiefs miss opportunity on the road, lose to last-place Vancouver 3-1 | WHL hockey

LANGLEY, B.C. – Joe Iginla scored the go-ahead goal at 8:28 of the third period and the last-place Vancouver Giants snapped an eight-game losing streak, beating the Spokane Chiefs 3-1 in a Western Hockey League game at Langley Events Centre on Friday. 

Coming off a 7-2 home win over second-place Penticton on Wednesday, the Chiefs hoped to carry the momentum with a brief two-game road trip against Vancouver, last out of 12 teams in the Western Conference, and 11th-place Wenatchee. 

Instead, Spokane will try to salvage points out of the trip on Saturday against the Wild. 

The Chiefs (24-24-1-0) remain in ninth place in the conference, one point behind the Victoria Royals – who lost 2-0 at Wenatchee. 

Tyus Sparks gave the Chiefs a 1-0 lead with 1:55 left in the first period with a power play goal, converting a back-door pass from Ethan Hughes for his 21st goal of the season. 

Vancouver (19-29-1-2) tied it at the 12-minute mark of the second period on Misha Volotovskii’s 13th goal of the season. 

Sparks had a golden opportunity to move the Chiefs ahead later in the period, but he was denied on a penalty shot opportunity by Giants goalie Kelton Pyne (33 saves).

Iginla – son of NHL Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla – scored his 12th of the season, and first in the Giants organization after a January trade that brought him over from Edmonton, a little less than halfway through the third period, snapping a long wrist shot past Chiefs goalie Linus Vieillard (27 saves). 

Volotovskii added his second of the game, an empty-net goal, with 44 second remaining. 

The Chiefs outshot Vancouver 20-9 in the first period, but managed just three shots on goal in the second. They went 1 for 4 on the power play and lost the faceoff battle 34-23.