Seattle’s Ethan Bear stops Spokane Chiefs from taking over first place

KENT, Wash. – The Spokane Chiefs were in the hunt for first place on Friday night, but they weren’t counting on hard-charging Ethan Bear.

Bear, a defenseman, recorded his first career hat trick as the Seattle Thunderbirds dispatched the Chiefs 5-1 in Western Hockey League play to improve to 11-0-1 at their ShoWare Centre.

First-place Seattle improved to 18-9-2-0, 38 points to keep the Chiefs (16-11-2-1, 35) from passing them in the U.S. Division.

Bear entered the game with just six goals, but five had come on power plays. He added two more power-play goals against Spokane as Seattle finished 2 for 4 with the man advantage.

The Chiefs were 0 for 3 on power-play opportunities.

Spokane’s Adam Helewka had his 10-game streak with at least one point snapped. The streak is the second longest in the league this season

Spokane had been 2-0 against Seattle this season.

The Thunderbirds led 3-0 when Keanu Yamamoto scored his seventh goal of the season for Spokane. The goal, at 14:31 of the second period, gave Yamamoto a goal in two consecutive games.