Spokane Chiefs fall 3-2 to Prince George in overtime; face three-game deficit in first-round series | WHL playoffs

There’s an old adage that says a playoff hockey series doesn’t really start until the home team loses. So, when the Spokane Chiefs lost the first two games of their Western Conference first-round series on the road in Prince George, Alberta, there wasn’t any panic.

And the scoreless first period of Game 3 at the Arena on Monday played that out, as both teams played tentatively trying to figure out their opponent.

Something clicked midway through the second period, though, as the intensity and physicality picked up – with both teams scoring a pair of goals in the stanza.

Ultimately, it was the visitors that hit paydirt in overtime, and the Chiefs now face a three-game hole in their best-of-seven series. 

Arsenii Anisimov scored a power play goal just 1 minute, 6 seconds into overtime and the Chiefs lost to the Prince George Cougars 3-2, setting up a win-or-go-home Game 4 on Wednesday at the Arena. Game 5, if necessary, would be Thursday at the Arena at 6:05.

“I thought for the most part we played a good game,” Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. “It was one of those games where they don’t give us a lot. We were getting some shots, but we’ve got to get more to the net front and make it more difficult on them.”

Just 47 seconds into overtime, Chiefs’ forward Logan Wormald was called for tripping in the defensive end, giving PG just their second power play of the game. The Cougars won the offensive zone draw and worked it back and forth at the points. 

Eventually, Brock Souch teed it up for defenseman Arsenii Anisimov at the center point, and the Russian import player’s slap shot beat Chiefs goalie Carter Esler through a maze of bodies for the game winning goal. 

“We can’t sit around and say, ‘We’re down 3-0,’ ” Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. “We’ve just got to come in with the attitude of just win one game. We gotta win the next one and go from there. … It’s not like it hasn’t been done. We just gotta believe in each other, that’s all.”

Esler made 29 saves; Prince George’s Joshua Ravensbergen made 30.

“You need that. That’s playoff hockey,” Lauer said. “You need to have goalies making saves for you. Both goalies I think are playing well, making saves at the right time for their clubs. But that’s what you expect in the playoffs.” 

The Chiefs went 1 for 5 on the power play while Prince George was 1 of 2. 

“Our special teams have got to be better,” Lauer said. “We’ve got to find a way to get the job done.”

There was no scoring in the third period, but it was full of drama.

Tied at 2-2, Prince George’s Tyrone Sobry was called for tripping at 10:36 of the third, giving the Chiefs their fifth power play of the game. Ravensbergen made a save right off the first faceoff, and again with 30 seconds left on the advantage on a close-in attempt by Chase Harrington. 

The Chiefs had a flurry with roughly five minutes left, with Ravensbergen making several saves while losing his stick momentarily during a scramble. But Esler was just as stingy at the opposite end, gobbling up a loose puck after a wraparound attempt by PG leading scorer Terik Parascak. 

Esler robbed Parascak with a pad save with 1:15 left to keep it even. The Chiefs were called for icing with 34 seconds remaining and the Cougars won the draw, but the Chiefs blocked two shot attempts, and it headed to overtime. 

“I thought we played hard. It’s unfortunate we didn’t get it done,” Lauer said. “But the biggest thing now is just get that first win.”

It was a fairly quiet first 15 minutes of the game, with just a small handful of scoring chances between the teams. 

The Chiefs were the beneficiaries of the game’s first power play with 4:32 left in the first, when Aiden Foster was sent off for two minutes for roughing, but nothing came of it.

Immediately after the penalty expired PG forward Riley Ashe was sprung on a breakaway, but Esler made a nifty glove save to keep it scoreless.

The Chiefs got a second power play attempt at 14:54 of the second when Bauer Dumanski lifted the puck off the playing surface and out of play.

Ravensbergen made a tough glove save on Ethan Hughes from close in, then Souch created a turnover in the neutral zone and beat Esler on a breakaway from the game’s first goal – and his fourth of the series. 

The Chiefs tied it up with 7:44 remaining in the period. Harrington took a long entry pass from Will McIsaac and broke in on the left wing then found Coco Armstrong with a cross-ice pass. Armstrong, ahead of his defender, buried it past Ravensbergen for his first goal of the playoffs. 

But defenseman Marek Howell was called for holding less than 30 seconds after the goal, putting Prince George on the power play. The Chiefs killed the penalty but just seven seconds later Kayden Lemire scored with a wrister from the right wing circle at 14:58 to make it 2-1. 

Chiefs forward Owen Martin was hit high in open ice with 1:55 left in the second, resulting in the Chiefs’ third power play opportunity of the game. They took full advantage, working the puck around to Tyus Sparks at the top of the right wing circle and he beat Ravensbergen clean to the glove side, with the puck ringing loudly off the back pipe. 

Harrington was felled by an elbow from Corbin Vaughan at the horn and the Chiefs started the third period on another power play. They didn’t score, and a few minutes later Esler came up with a big pad save on a PG 2-on-1.