The Spokane Chiefs defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-3 Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Arena in Game 5 of their first round playoff series.
With the win the Chiefs win the best-of-seven series 4- 1 and advance to the second round of the playoffs to face the Vancouver Giants.
The T-Birds finished the regular season with a 35-32- 1-4 record to advance to the playoffs.
Spokane outshot Seattle 10-7 in the first period.
The Chiefs took a 1-0 lead at 6:29 of the second period on a goal by Drayson Bowman. Mitch Wahl and Jared Spurgeon had the assists on the goal.
Spokane took a 2-0 lead at 13:30 of the second on a goal by Justin McCrae. Wahl and Levko Koper had the assists.
The T-Birds cut the Chiefs lead to one goal at 15:50 of the second. Goalie Calvin Pickard moved the puck up the right boards to Greg Scott. Scott carried the puck into the Spokane zone on the right side on a three-on- two break. Prab Rai charged hard towards the net while Colin Jacobs cut towards the high slot. Scott dropped the puck for Jacobs and he one-timed the pass. Jacob’s shot beat Spokane goalie Dustin Tokarski low on the blocker side.
The Chiefs outshot Seattle 16-9 in the second period and led 26-16 in total shots after two periods.
Brady Calla put the Chiefs back in front by two goals when he scored an unassisted goal at 5:21 of the third period.
Seattle got back within one goal at 12:59 of the third with a five-on-three power play goal. Thomas Hickey carried the puck down the right side. He put a shot on goal with Jonathan Parker in front of Tokarski. Hickey’s shot rebounded into the crease and Rai poked the puck into the net for the T-Birds second goal.
Wahl scored a power-play goal at 14:31 of the third to put Spokane back in front 4-2. Bowman had an assist on the goal.
The T-Birds pulled Pickard with over two minutes left in the game to try and tie the game. They drew a penalty for a six-on-four advantage and were able to capitalize. Hickey beat Tokarksi on the glove side with a slap shot from the high point at 18:30 of the third. Scott had the only assist on the goal.
Bowman added an empty-net goal at 19:18 of the third to seal the win for the Chiefs. Spurgeon had the only assist on the goal.
Seattle outshot Spokane 18-10 in the third period but the Chiefs finished with a 36-34 advantage in total shots.
Pickard made 31 saves on 35 shots in the loss.
Tokarski stopped 31 of 34 shots to get the win.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – No scoring. Penalties – Hickey, Sea (hooking), 5:58. Bartman, Spo (interference), 11:54. Haber, Sea (roughing), 18:41.
Second period – 1, Spokane, Bowman 4 (Wahl, Spurgeon), 6:29. 2, Spokane, McCrae 2 (Wahl, Koper), 13:30. 3, Seattle, Jacobs 2 (Scott, Pickard), 15:50. Penalties – Roman, Spo (boarding), 2:11. Roman, Spo (hooking), 10:34. O’Brien, Sea (interference), 11:28. Richard, Sea (tripping), 16:39. Dillon, Sea (slashing), 18:56.
Third period – 4, Spokane, Calla 1, 5:21. 5, Seattle, Rai 1 (Hickey, Scott), 12:59 (pp). 6, Spokane, Wahl 1 (Bowman), 14:31. 7, Seattle, Hickey 2 (Scott), 18:39 (pp). 8, Spokane, Bowman 5 (Spurgeon), 19:18 (en). Penalties – McCrae, Spo (high-sticking), 1:58. Koper, Spo (cross checking), 11:00. Bowman, Spo (high-sticking), 11:24. Johnson, Spo (cross checking), 12:02. O’Brien, Sea (roughing), 12:02. Bench, Sea (unsportsmanlike conduct), 13:13. Coach, Sea (game misconduct), 14:31. Letts, Spo (cross checking), 18:18.
Shots on goal – Seattle 7-9-18 34. Spokane 10-16-10 36. Goalies – Seattle, Pickard 35 shots-31 saves (1-4); Spokane, Tokarski 34-31 (4-1). Power plays – Seattle 2-7; Spokane 1-6. A – 5,810. Referee – Derek Herman, Sean Raphael. Linesmen – Chris Dehaan, Jim Maniago.
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