SPOKANE - The Spokane Chiefs had their five-game winning streak against the Tri-City Americans
snapped in front of a sold out crowd of 10,528 on Friday night in the Spokane Arena. The Americans scored twice on the power play and once shorthanded as the loss dashed the Chiefs' hopes for first place in the conference.
With two games remaining, Spokane can finish as high as third place in the Western Conference with two wins and an Everett loss tomorrow night. If the Chiefs get one point in their final two games or Portland losses against Seattle tomorrow night, Spokane will clinch fourth place and the home ice advantage in the first round that would go with it.
Each team scored a power play goal in the first period, Tri-City at 5:28 and Spokane's
Blake Gal at 13:00. In the second, the Americans sandwiched a pair of specialty team goals around a Brett Bartman blast to make the game 3-2, Tri-City, through two periods.
Spokane tied it up at 5:33 of the third with a power play goal, Tyler Johnson's 34th tally of the season, from Jared Spurgeon and Mitch Wahl.
Jordan Messier's rebound effort off a Zachary Yuen shot at 12:23 proved to be the game winner.
With Spokane on the power play, the Chiefs pulled James Reid, who stopped 33 shots, for a six-on-four advantage but couldn't find the equalizer.
The Chiefs had won five in a row against the Americans and seven of the previous 10 match-ups.
The Chiefs will play the second half of a home and home series with the Americans on Saturday night.
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