German goalie Linus Vieillard pitches shutout in front of visiting parents; Spokane Chiefs blank Brandon 4-0
The Spokane Chiefs have had their share of struggles this season, but none of that was evident on Saturday at the Arena against a team considerably higher in the standings than their hosts.
The Chiefs – one point out of a playoff spot with 21 games to play in the regular season – scored four first-period goals and cruised to a 4-0 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings, in fourth place in the Eastern Conference – but playing in the last of seven consecutive road games through the U.S. Division of the Western Hockey League.
The Chiefs (23-23-1-0) halted a three-game losing streak, and snapped Brandon’s (28-20-1-0) two-game win streak.
The only thing that didn’t go the Chiefs’ way was the power play, which went 0-4 and remains in last place in the league.
“We knew they were on their long road trip, and obviously the start was important for us,” Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. “I thought our five-on-five game was okay (Friday) night (a 4-1 loss to Everett). I thought we came out the right way against a team that has been on the road a long time.”
Goalie Linus Vieillard made 22 saves for his first WHL shutout. The German import’s parents were in town for the game.
“It feels amazing. My parents are in the building, so there’s nothing better,” Vieillard said. “It’s very special to me, and I’m glad they saw my first WHL shutout.”
After a 15-minute delayed start due to the military appreciation night ceremonies, the Chiefs received the game’s first power play 50 seconds into it, but they weren’t able to take advantage.
A few minutes later, though, Rhett Sather’s soft wrist shot off an offensive zone faceoff win by Owen Martin managed to slip through Brandon goalie Filip Ruzicka for Sather’s ninth goal of the season.
They made it 2-0 with 9 minutes, 42 seconds left in the first, when Sam Oremba knocked in a loose puck off the goal line off a backhanded shot by Cohen Harris. It was Oremba’s team-leading 18th goal of the season.
While the announcer was reading Oremba’s goal the Chiefs scored again, with Tristen Buckley outworking a defenseman for a wrap-around goal, his sixth of the season.
Logan Wormald made it 4-0 with 5:39 left in the period, taking a pass from Dominik Petr and beating Ruzicka on the rush for his 17th of the season, and Brandon coach Marty Murray replaced Ruzicka with backup Jayden Kraus.
Brandon got the best opportunity of a scoreless second period with less than a minute to go, as winger Luke Mistelbacher was sprung on a breakaway after exiting the penalty box, but Vieillard stopped Mistelbacher and shut down the rebound attempt to preserve the shutout into the third period.
“We didn’t see the guy come out as a box, so I try my best and stay up as long as I could so I could react more,” Vieillard said. “And then, yeah, it was kind of luck (on the rebound), and my teammates helped me out. So it works pretty well.”
The Chiefs killed off 1:50 of penalty time at the start of the third, as well as a two-minute minor to Nathan Mayes for charging midway through the period and Will McIsaac’s tripping penalty just moments after Mayes’ expired. And though they didn’t add to the lead down the stretch, the Chiefs controlled play against the weary Wheat Kings the rest of the way.
“We had some breakdowns, and obviously (Vieillard) was our last line of defense,” Lauer said. “He made the saves for us, and that’s crucial.”