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 six-minutes 29-seconds in 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.
