Chiefs rally to defeat T-Birds 3-2 Jan. 3

The Spokane Chiefs used three second-period goals to erase an early 2-0 deficit and defeat the Seattle Thunderbirds 3-2 Jan. 3 at the ShoWare Center.

The T-Birds (13-22-2-4) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a power-play goal by Sena Acolatse at 10:20 of the first period. T-Bird defenseman Jeremy Schappert slid a cross-ice pass to Acolatse who was waiting at the top of the right circle. Acolatse snapped a wrist shot that beat Chiefs’ goalie Michael Tadjdeh top shelf for his 13th goal of the season. T-Bird captain Lindsay Nielsen earned the second assist on the goal.

Charles Wells netted his 10th goal of the season at 17:02 of the first period to give Seattle a 2-0 lead. Schappert broke through a heavy Spokane fore-check in the neutral zone and fired a pass to Prab Rai skating down his right side. Rai carried the puck across the blue line and threw a shot on goal from the right circle that was redirected by Wells past Tadjdeh.

Seattle outshot Spokane 13-9 in the first period.

Spokane (23-13-3-0) cut the T-Bird lead in half with a 4-on-4 goal by Steve Kuhn at 3:26 of the second period. The goal was Kuhn’s fifth of the season and was assisted by Jared Spurgeon.

The Chiefs tied the game 2-2 with Ryan Letts’ second goal of the season at 14:33 of the second period. Brett Bartman and Mitch Wahl earned assists on the goal.

Kenton Miller scored his seventh goal of the year at 18:48 to give Spokane their first lead of the night. Tanner Mort and Spurgeon picked up the assists.

Spokane outshot the T-Birds 16-14 in the second period, but the T-Birds held a 27-25 advantage through 40 minutes of action.

Neither team could find the net in the third period. Spokane played defensively, putting just three shots on goal in the period. The T-Birds pulled goalie Calvin Pickard with just over a minute to go for an extra attacker and held the puck in the Chiefs’ zone. Schappert, Rai and Acolatse each put several shot attempts on net in the final seconds but could not get the equalizer.

The T-Birds outshot the Chiefs 12-3 in the third period and 39-28 for the game.

Tadjdeh faced 39 shots and made 37 saves. His record improves to 5-5-0-0 on the season.

T-Bird goalie Calvin Pickard stopped 25 of 28 shots he faced. Pickard’s record falls to 11-18-2-4.

The T-Birds return to action Friday, January 8 when they host the Everett Silvertips at 7:35pm at ShoWare Center. The T-Birds take on the Prince George Cougars on Saturday night at 7:05pm at ShoWare Center.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Seattle, Acolatse 13 (Schappert, Nielsen), 10:20 (pp). 2, Seattle, Wells 10 (Rai, Schappert), 17:02. Penalties – Aviani, Spo (holding), 10:10. Bench, Spo, (too many men- served by Letts), 17:41.

Second period – 3, Spokane, Kuhn 5 (Spurgeon), 3:26. 4, Spokane, Letts 2 (Bartman, Wahl), 14:33. 5, Spokane, Miller 7 (Mort, Spurgeon), 18:48. Penalties – Acolatse, Sea (delay of game), 2:51. Wahl, Spo (slashing), 3:10. Bartman, Spo (hooking), 10:37. Beach, Spo (cross checking), 11:55. Lund, Sea (major- fighting), 14:29. Baldwin, Spo (major- fighting), 14:29. Schappert, Sea (interference), 15:05. Wahl, Spo (roughing), 15:05.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties – Jacobs, Sea (high-sticking), 5:35.

Shots on goal – Seattle 13-14-12 39. Spokane 9-16-3 28. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 28 shots-25 saves (11-18-2-4); Spokane, Tadjdeh 39-37 (5-5-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 1-5; Spokane 0-2. A – 3,115. Referee – Boone Bruggman, Pat Smith. Linesmen – Chris Carlson, Kiel Murchison.