Chiefs get revenge on Blazers

By GREGG DRINNAN
Daily News Sports Editor
You just knew that this one would be different than the last one.
And it was.
The Spokane Chiefs, spanked 8-1 on their last visit to Interior Savings Centre, rolled over the Kamloops Blazers 7-0 before 3,874 fans on Wednesday night.
It was the fourth time in franchise history that the Blazers have been beaten 7-0, but the first time it happened at home. In fact, this was the worst shutout loss ever inflicted on the Blazers in a home game.
“We're trying to get more pucks to the net,” Guy Charron, the Blazers' head coach, said. “This is a perfect example of the good teams . . . they just throw the puck at the net and you just never know.
“We are such a cute team. You're not going to generate the success you want unless you get the simplicity of getting the puck to the net and going to the net. This team did it a lot more effectively than we did tonight.”
Whereas the Chiefs didn't get many bounces in that 8-1 trouncing on Jan. 26, they got the first one last night. And the Blazers never were in the game after that as Spokane won for the ninth time in 11 outings since Jan. 26.
Centre Mitch Wahl opened the scoring at 4:44 of the opening period, when he threw the puck from behind the goal line to the Kamloops net. It pinballed off metal, off goaltender Kurtis Mucha and into the goal.
The Chiefs, however, didn't need many bounces to win this one. They looked a lot like a playoff-ready team as they dominated the first period. If this had been a football game, the time of possession would have been painfully lopsided.
At one point the Blazers held a 5-4 edge on the shot clock, but the Chiefs finished the first 20 minutes with a 10-5 advantage. But not even that discrepancy is a reflection of just how much of the play was in the Kamloops zone.
To listen to the Chiefs, that 8-1 loss had more than a little bit to do with their performance.
“It motivated us,” said winger Kyle Beach. “Any time you get beat 8-1 it's embarrassing. The coaches sent a message after that game and we're just glad that we could rebound the way we have. I think it shows that we've got great character in our room.”
The Blazers simply couldn't find an answer for the Spokane line that features Wahl between Beach and Blake Gal.
Beach, the WHL's leading sniper, scored three times - he has a career-high 45 - and added an assist. He now has recorded back-to-back hat tricks and has eight goals in three games.
Wahl finished up with two goals and an assist, giving him 34 points in his last 18 games.
As for Gal, well, he didn't get so much as a point, but Beach was singing his praises when it was over.
“Things just seem to be clicking,” Beach said. “We changed up the lines and put Gal with Wahl and me. (Gal) does an unbelievable job. He's not getting points, but he's first on the forecheck and he's creating the room for Wahl and me.”
Defenceman Jared Cowen, who appears to be back to his old self after undergoing major knee surgery late last season, and Levko Koper, who was unsuccessful on a second-period penalty shot, also scored for the Chiefs.
Spokane goaltender James Reid was rarely tested - “I don't think they had a good scoring chance,” he said - as he won his 30th game of the season.
“That was my goal at the beginning of the season,” said Reid, a 19-year-old from Calgary who recorded his fourth shutout of this season and the eighth of his career. Last season, backing up Dustin Tokarski, Reid put up four shutouts in 18 appearances.
Mucha left after the third Spokane goal, at 2:28 of the second period, having stopped eight of 11 shots. Reliever Jon Groenheyde turned aside 30 of 34.
The loss leaves the Blazers (27-29-2-4) in seventh place in the Western Conference, three points behind the Kelowna Rockets and two up on the Chilliwack Bruins. Kamloops is at home to the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday night.
The Chiefs (36-20-3-1) are fifth, a point behind the Portland Winterhawks and two in arrears of the Everett Silvertips.
JUST NOTES: Referees Jeff Ingram and Steve Papp gave the Blazers five of eight minors and two of four majors. . . . Kamloops D Josh Caron and Spokane D Corbin Baldwin, a couple of heavyweight, fought twice. . . . The crowd was the second-smallest of this season. . . . The Chiefs' pregame warmup was shortened by about a minute when a puck shattered a pane of glass in their zone. As a result, the game didn't start until 7:13 p.m.
gdrinnan@kamloopsnews.ca
gdrinnan.blogspot.com