The Spokane Chiefs defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds in a Western Hockey League game 5-3 Friday night at the accesso ShoWare Center.
Seattle (11-15-3-0) took a 1-0 lead at 10:40 of the first period on a great shorthanded goal by Nolan Volcan.
The T-Birds penalty kill unit – Volcan, Matthew Wedman, Reece Harsch, Jake Lee and goalie Liam Hughes – bent but did not break. The foursome blocked multiple shots, and Hughes made several good saves before Volcan was able to poke the puck out of the zone. The Chiefs mishandled the loose puck in the neutral zone, and Volcan skated hard to get it, broke away and came down on Spokane goalie Bailey Brkin, beating him with quick shot through the goalie’s legs.
Spokane (18-11-2-2) tied the game 1-1 with one minute left in the game on a power-play goal by Jake McGrew. Luke Toporowski and Jack Finley had the assists.
McGrew scored at 1:35 of the second period on assists from Eli Zummack and Adam Beckman to put the Chiefs up 2-1.
Volcan answered back for the T-Birds at 8:15 of the second period. A Chiefs defenseman mishandled the puck at the Seattle blue line to give Volcan a breakaway, who skated at Brkin, made a move left, brought the puck to his backhand and lifted it over the goalie’s left pad for his second goal of the game.
Beckman scored at 9:36 of the second to make it a 3-2 Chiefs lead. McGrew had the only assist.
Payton Mount tied the game 3-3 at 17:33 of the second. Mount came out of the left circle and into the left circle and wired a wrist shot over Brkin’s glove for his second goal of the season.
Zummack scored an unassisted goal at 19:45 of the second to give the Chiefs a 4-3 lead.
With just over a minute left in the third period, the T-Birds pulled Hughes for an extra attacker. The T-Birds had several good chances before McGrew hit the empty net with 29 seconds left in the game.
Seattle outshot Spokane 13-8 in the third period but the Chiefs finished with a 32-27 advantage in shot.
Hughes had 27 saves on 31 shots, and his record is 10-13-2-0. Brkin had 24 saves on 27 shots, and his record is 13-5-1-1.
On the road
The T-Birds travel to Everett to play the Silvertips at 7:05 p.m. Saturday. They are in Spokane on Sunday to face the Chiefs at 5:05 p.m.
Tickets are on sale online on the T-Birds website and at the ShoWare box office.
Fans who purchase the 24-flex ticket packagewill be able to select any available premium seat for any game, in any ticket combination, during the 2018-19 season.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Seattle, Volcan 11, 10:40 (sh). 2, Spokane, McGrew 9 (Toporowski, Finley), 19:00. Penalties – Williams, Sea (holding), 9:06. Brkin, Spo (tripping-served by Larson), 12:41. Mount, Sea (slashing), 17:52. Lee, Sea (roughing), 18:49. Smith, Spo (roughing), 18:49.
Second period – 3, Spokane, McGrew 10 (Zummack, Beckman), 1:35. 4, Seattle, Volcan 12, 8:15. 5, Spokane, Beckman 15 (McGrew), 9:36. 6, Seattle, Mount 2, 17:32. 7, Spokane, Zummack 10, 19:45. Penalties – Larson, Spo (interference), 2:02. Andrusiak, Sea (holding), 10:41.
Third period – 8, Spokane, McGrew 11, 19:31 (en). Penalties – Volcan, Sea (holding), 9:09.
Shots on goal – Seattle 7-7-13 27, Spokane 9-15-8 32. Goalies – Seattle, Hughes 31 shots-27 saves (10-13-2-0); Spokane, Brkin 27-24 (12-5-1-1). Power plays – Seattle 0-2; Spokane 1-4. A – 4,483. Referees – Adam Griffiths, Ian Jendro. Linesmen – Michael Bean, Daniel Spore.
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