Spokane goalie Dawson Weatherill made 44 saves to lead the Chiefs to a 3-1 Western Hockey League victory over the Seattle Thunderbirds on Tuesday night at the ShoWare Center.
Weatherill made 13 saves in the first period, 12 saves in the second period and 19 saves in the third.
The T-Birds, down 2-1, went on the power play late in the third period in front of a crowd of 4,019. Weatherill made several solid saves to keep the Chiefs in front. The T-Birds then pulled goalie Rylan Toth toward the end of the penalty for an extra attacker to try and tie the game. Weatherill again stood tall and denied the T-Birds.
Curtis Miske scored an empty-net goal with 14 seconds left in the game to secure the win for Spokane.
Left wing Ryan Gropp made his season debut for the T-Birds after returning from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League.
Two of Toth’s seven saves in the first period were very good. Early in the first period playing four-on-four, Toth stopped defenseman Evan Fiala in all alone with a quick glove save. Fiala had pinched down from the right point and had plenty of time to get a shot off. Then at 13:53 of the first Toth stopped Kailer Yamamoto with the glove on a two-on-one Spokane break. Toth went from the right post to left post to make a lunging save on Yamamoto.
Weatherill stopped 13 Seattle shots in the first, the best being a denial of Nolan Volcan on a breakaway at 17:48 of the period.
Spokane went in front 1-0 six minutes into the first period on a goal from Pavel Kousal. Jaret Anderson-Dolan had the only assist on the goal.
Seattle tied the game 1-1 at 16:33 of the first. Toth made a save that rebounded right to Sami Moilanen, who curled up the ice through the right circle and then made a stretch pass to Scott Eansor skating up the left wing. Eansor crossed the Spokane blue line, cut inside on a defender and came down the slot, avoiding a check. Eansor beat Weatherill through the legs for his first goal of the season.
The T-Birds outshot the Chiefs 13-7 in the second period and led 26-14 in shots after two periods.
Kailer Yamamoto scored from the left circle 40 seconds into the third period to put the Chiefs in front 2-1.
Weatherill stopped Matthew Wedman on a breakaway midway through the third period.
Seattle outshot Spokane 45-22 in the game.
Toth finished the night with 19 saves on 21 shots.
Next up: Cougars
The T-Birds host the Prince George Cougars at 7:35 p.m. Friday. They are in Everett on Saturday night to play the Silvertips at Xfinity Arena at 7:05.
Single-game tickets for the 2016-17 season are on sale. Fans can purchase them online or at the ShoWare Center box office.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – No scoring. Penalties – Hamaliuk, Spo (interference), 2:40. Tyszka, Sea (tripping), 3:06.
Second period – 1, Spokane, Kousal 2 (Anderson-Dolan, Henderson), 6:00. 2, Seattle, Eansor 1 (Moilanen), 16:33. Penalties – Morrisseau, Spo (high-sticking), 7:14. Hamaliuk, Sea (major-fighting), 11:32. McKay, Spo (major-fighting), 11:32. Tyszka, Sea (roughing), 14:52. Elynuik, Spo (roughing), 14:52.
Third period – 3, Spokane, Ka. Yamamoto 4 (Ke. Yamamoto, Fiala), :40. 4, Spokane, Miske 2, 19:46 (en). Penalties – Anderson-Dolan, Spo (holding), 8:58. Wedman, Sea (tripping), 12:03. McIndoe, Spo (interference), 16:39.
Shots on goal – Seattle 13-13-19 45, Spokane 7-7-8 22. Goalies – Seattle, Toth 21 shots-19 saves (1-3-0-0); Spokane, Weatherill 45-44 (1-1-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 0-4; Spokane 0-2. A – 4,019. Referees – Duncan Brow, Mike Campbell. Linesmen – Nick Bilko, Mark Heier.
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