At Spokane, Wash., Kyle Beach had a wild game for the Chiefs, scoring his 52nd goal of the season and taking three minor penalties in leading Spokane to a 5-2 win over the Rockets in WHL action on Tuesday night. The result snapped Kelowna‘s modest three-game winning streak, which included back-to-back shutouts.
Levko Koper, with his 27th goal of the season, Blake Gal, Stefan Ulmer and Kenton Miller also scored for Spokane (43-21-3-2), which led 1-0 and 4-1 at the period breaks. With the victory, the Chiefs, sitting fourth in Western Conference standings, hit 91 points and climbed to within two of the third-place Everett Silvertips.
In turn, Everett, with 93, is tied for first with the Tri-City Americans, who regained top spot after the ‘Tips lost 3-0 in Portland to the fifth-place Winterhawks last night. Portland has 87 points in what‘s been a wild race for positioning between the top four U.S. Division teams.
Shane McColgan, with his 25th marker, a power-play tally that made it 2-1 at 5:30 of the second, and Brandon McMillan, with his 20th, replied for Kelowna (33-31-2-4).
Should the Rockets finish sixth, they‘ll head south to play an U.S. team in the first round of the playoffs. And if the post-season was to start today, Kelowna would play Everett. However, the Rockets are just two points up on seventh-place Kamloops. Both teams have two games left, with the seventh-place team taking on the second-place Vancouver Giants.
Ironically, the Rockets‘ next game is Friday in Vancouver (40-24-2-3), which lost 3-0 in Kelowna on Saturday. Last Wednesday, the Chiefs were dumped 3-2 at Prospera Place by Kelowna.
“(Our work ethic) was OK,” Rockets head coach Ryan Huska said of Tuesday night‘s loss. “At one point, it was 2-1 and we were getting into the game, and then they score to make it 3-1 off a nothing play.
“That was the play that changed the game.”
Mark Guggenberger started for Kelowna, but lasted just two periods before getting pulled. He made 13 saves on 17 shots. Adam Brown was 13-for-14 in relief. James Reid made 30 stops for the Chiefs.
With Beach registering his 52nd goal, it‘s believed he‘s only one of two Kelowna products have hit the 50-goal plateau in the WHL, with the other being former Rocket Jason Deleurme, who had 51 goals in 72 games in 1997-98.
ICE CHIPS: Kelowna‘s scratches were C Cody Chikie (shoulder, 4-to-6 weeks), C Sean Aschim, RW Jessey Astles and RW Kyle St. Denis (concussion, indefinite). . . . Kelowna was 1-for-3 on the power play, while Spokane was 1-for-2. . . . The attendance was 4,643. Top of Page
