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Spokane Chiefs

Spokane Chiefs struggle again at home, lose 1-0 to Victoria Cougars

Spokane Chiefs center Jaret Anderson-Dolan (11) checks Victoria Royals defenseman Matthew Smith (9) on the boards during the first period of a WHL hockey game, Fri., Nov. 17, 2017, in the Spokane Arena. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
Spokane Chiefs center Jaret Anderson-Dolan (11) checks Victoria Royals defenseman Matthew Smith (9) on the boards during the first period of a WHL hockey game, Fri., Nov. 17, 2017, in the Spokane Arena. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
By Kevin Dudley For The Spokesman-Review

Fans watching the Spokane Chiefs and Victoria Royals should be forgiven if they expected another high scoring affair, like the 8-6 Chiefs win on Oct. 13.

Instead, they got a game with hardly any offense or scoring opportunities. They also saw a 1-0 Victoria victory, courtesy of a Jared Freadrich goal with one minute, six seconds left in the game.

The Chiefs managed just 19 shots on net and fell to 3-5-0-2 at home. The Chiefs squandered the few opportunities they had, including a chance by Jaret Anderson-Dolan just seconds before the game-winning goal on the other end of the ice.

Anderson-Dolan took the puck from the right circle and tried to get around Victoria goaltender Griffen Outhouse but was stoned and tripped, leaving him behind the play as the puck went the other way.

That play summed up the Chiefs’ performance pretty well, and head coach Dan Lambert wasn’t pleased, to say the least.

“It was embarrassing, is what it was,” he said. “We were too cute, wanted to put on a show for the fans again, we’ve talked about it. But that’s just what we think we are at home and it doesn’t work. It’s never worked and it never will.”

The Chiefs are 7-3-1-0 away from the Spokane Arena, but have struggled at home.

Lambert blasted his veterans for their performance.

“If your best players are going to turn pucks all over and refuse to play a certain way that we need to play, that’s what’s going to happen at home,” he said.

One of those veterans is Kailer Yamamoto, the Spokane native back home after a nine-game stint with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers. Yamamoto scored four points in his first game back on Nov. 10 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes on the road.

Yamamoto, skating on a line with Eli Zummack and Milos Fafrak, registered just one shot on goal and was a minus-1.

“(Kailer’s) arguably one of the best players at this level when he chooses to play,” Lambert said. “At the end of the day, we need all our best players to be better. He brings what Connor McDavid could bring to the Edmonton Oilers, or what Sidney Crosby could bring to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He has to want to do it and be willing to do it.”

Yamamoto’s return bolsters the lineup and evens out the scoring on the team’s four lines, in theory. That wasn’t evident against the Royals, though.

“We have to simplify our game,” Yamamoto said. “Get the puck in and work below the goal line and wear them down.”

Spokane goaltender Dawson Weatherill made 23 saves on 24 shots. He made a couple of key saves in the third period, including stopping Victoria’s Tyler Soy on a breakaway.

Neither team capitalized on the power play. Victoria went scoreless on its four chances, while Spokane couldn’t score on its three power plays.

The Chiefs host the Prince Albert Raiders tonight.