For the Reporter
The Spokane Chiefs defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 5-1 at the accesso ShoWare Center on Sunday night.
The T-Birds (28-21-7-2) are in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff standings, one point behind the Tri-City Americans, who occupy the first wild-card spot. Seattle is four points behind the Chiefs in third place in the U.S. Division.
Spokane (33-20-3-2) took a 1-0 lead at 16:40 of the first period on an unassisted shorthanded breakaway goal from Hudson Elynuik.
The Chiefs made it 2-0 at 17:51 of the first when a shot by Nolan Reid from the right circle deflected off a T-Birds defenseman and past Seattle goalie Liam Hughes.
Spokane outshot Seattle 13-10 in the first period.
Kailer Yamamoto scored at 17:01 of the second period on a power-play to give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead.
Seattle cut the Spokane lead to two goals at 18:01 of the second. Noah Philp brought the puck up the right boards and backhanded it to Austin Strand the right point. Strand took a wrist shot with traffic in front of Spokane goalie Dawson Weatherill. Strand’s shot beat the goalie over the glove for his 19th goal of the season.
Spokane had a 25-17 advantage in shots after two periods by outshooting the T-Birds 12-7 in the period.
Spokane took the three-goal lead back at 1:02 of the third period on a goal by Jaret Anderson-Dolan.
Yamamoto scored at 10:19 of the third to give the Chiefs a 5-1 lead.
Spokane outshot Seattle 36-26 in the game.
Hughes had 31 saves on 36 shots and his record is 10-8-4-1.
Weatherill had 25 saves on 26 shots and his record is 21-9-3-2.
On the road again
The T-Birds’ next game is 7:05 p.m. Wednesday in Kennewick against the Tri-City Americans.
For tickets, order on the T-Birds website or drop by the ShoWare box office.
SCORING SUMMARY
First period – 1, Spokane, Elynuik 24, 16:40 (sh). 2, Spokane, Reid 12, 17:51. Penalties – Smith, Spo (interference), 3:42. Wedman, Sea (tripping), 11:19. Toporowski, Spo (hooking), 15:31.
Second period – 3, Spokane, Yamamoto 15 (Anderson-Dolan, Smith), 17:01 (pp). 4, Seattle, Strand 19 (Philp, Ottenbreit), 18:01. Penalties – Ottenbreit, Spo (hooking), 15:38. McKay, Spo (roughing), 20:00. Tyszka, Sea (roughing), 20:00.
Third period – 5, Spokane, Anderson-Dolan 34 (Yamamoto), 1:02. 6, Spokane, Yamamoto 16 (McIndoe, Reid), 10:19. Penalties – Volcan, Sea (10-minute misconduct), 15:59. Toporowski, Spo (10-minute misconduct), 15:59.
Shots on goal – Seattle 10-7-9 26, Spokane 13-12-11 36. Goalies – Seattle, Hughes 36 shots-31 saves (10-8-4-1); Spokane, Weatherill 26-25 (21-9-3-2). Power plays – Seattle 0-2; Spokane 1-2. A – 5,099. Referees – Ryan Benbow, Adam Griffiths. Linesmen – Michael Bean, Michael Labbe.
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