SPOKANE 4 VICTORIA 2
Black Friday came a few days early for the Victoria Royals during U.S. Thanksgiving week. The Royals dropped their second consecutive 4-2 Western Hockey League decision Wednesday in Spokane against the Chiefs after losing by the same score the night before in Portland.
The Chiefs are sort of like the stealth fighter of the WHL. You don’t notice them until you do, like when they popped up and won the Memorial Cup in 1991 and 2008. Spokane, which hasn’t missed the playoffs since 2005-06, is again a study in steadiness at 13-7-3 and won its fourth consecutive game — the previous three all by 2-1 counts.
“They [Chiefs] work hard and are a very stingy team,” warned Royals coach Dave Lowry, before the game.
Afterwards, Lowry said his team had more than enough chances but were let down by a few lapses. Against a team like Spokane, that’s all it takes.
“We need to play a full 60 minutes,” said Lowry, whose squad fell to 14-13-2.
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Calder Brooks opened scoring for Spokane. Greg Chase continues finding chemistry with Axel Blomqvist and tied it 1-1 on a give-and-go with the big Swedish forward later in the first period. It was the second goal in as many nights for Chase, who also scored in Tuesday’s loss in Portland. The Edmonton Oilers-signed forward, a candidate for Canada’s team to the 2015 world junior championship, was acquired four games ago from the Calgary Hitmen.
Two Spokane goals in the final five minutes of the second period, by captain Jason Fram and Adam Helewka, made it 3-1. The third period was punctuated by two outstanding saves by goaltender Coleman Vollrath — and another on a penalty shot — that kept Victoria within hailing distance. Austin Carroll’s 18th goal, on a sharp assist from Jack Walker down low, pulled Victoria to within one at 8:11 of the third period. Rookie defenceman and Russian import Marsel Ibragimov picked up the other assist for his first career WHL point. But Brooks scored an empty net goal while Spokane hometown player Kailer Yamamoto picked up his fourth assist of the night.
Vollrath made 34 saves and Garret Hughson 30 for Spokane.
The Royals cross back over the border for a game Saturday in Kamloops against the Blazers (11-11-5).
