Chiefs get steamrolled

Seattle’s Nate Thompson had five goals coming into Wednesday night’s game with the Spokane Chiefs at the Arena, but he left town with hat in hand – a hat trick, that is.

Thompson scored three goals to show why he’s just one part of one of major-junior hockey’s best team, as Seattle downed Spokane 6-3 in comeback fashion before 3,913.

Seattle – the top-ranked team in the WHL, leader of the Western Conference’s U.S. Division, and ranked No. 2 in the Canadian Hockey League – showed its explosiveness over a five-minute stretch of the second period in which the Thunderbirds overcame a 3-1 deficit with three straight goals.

They would add another in the first minute of the third period to effectively take the Chiefs out of the game, then closed it out with an empty-netter by Thompson to improve to 26-10-0-1, 53 points.

It was another example of Spokane (13-19-7-1, 34) showing it could play with – but not finish off – a top-shelf team in the league. The loss by the Chiefs, their first at home since Nov. 20 (2-0-5), kept them from gaining ground on fourth-place Tri-City (36 points).

Spokane took a 3-1 lead in the second period on two goals by Jeff Lynch, at the 6:37 and 9:17 marks of the period.

“Our line played really well tonight – we moved the puck well – a lot of nice passing … it was nice that we all worked together,” said Lynch.

Both of his goals came as Spokane put a lot of pressure on Seattle goaltender Gavin McHale and crashed the net hard. Chad Klassen assisted on both goals as he, Lynch and their linemates forced breakdowns in Seattle’s defense.

Spokane was doing all it needed until the 11:22 mark of the second. That’s when a goal by Denis Tolpeko set the Seattle rally in motion.

The T-Birds would follow with goals by Thompson, his second at 14:22 of the second, and a back-breaker by Ladislav Scurko at 16:02 that came after a defensive turnover by Spokane’s Gary Gladue. Then, just 40 seconds into the third period, Seattle killed off all Spokane hopes with a run-of-the-mill wrist shot by Ryan Gibbons from the top of the right circle that whizzed past the outstretched glove of Spokane goaltender Jim Watt.

The Chiefs then mostly went though the motions for the greater part of the third period, holding Seattle in check and getting some pressure when they pulled Watt with 3:02 remaining. However, Thompson completed his three-goal night with an empty-netter at 19:49 of the third.

“We let off the throttle and they pretty much took over the last part of the first period,” said Chiefs coach Al Conroy. “We did some good things to lead off the second, but then we let off again. I didn’t think we were ever a factor after that, so it wasn’t a very good effort. They did a lot of things right and pounded us on the forecheck and we never really responded in like, so we really couldn’t expect any different result. Us not playing well is a product of them playing well.”

The teams had played an even first period, with Spokane jumping on top of Seattle early and then holding on toward the end of the period because of some good goaltending by Watt.

Captain Jevon Desautels gave the Chiefs a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the game when he put back a rebound of a Kyle Howarth shot after Desautels had passed it over on a rush. It would stay that way until the 9:38 mark, when Thompson put a back-handed rebound past Watt.

Ice chips

The game marked the debut of defenseman Dan Mercer, acquired Tuesday from Moose Jaw. Mercer saw a fair amount of time, one night after being told in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Warriors management that he was coming to Spokane. … Mike Senseman, the sometime Chief/sometime Spokane Brave, was active for the game and sporting No. 9, as Mercer was given No. 22.

Thunderbirds 6, Chiefs 3

First period–1, Spo, Desautels 11 (Bruton, Howarth) :50; 2, Sea, Thompson 6 (Holloway, Metcalfe) 9:38.

Second period– 3, Spo, Je Lynch 8 (Klassen, Lukacevic) 6:37 (pp); 4, Spo, Je Lynch 9 (Klassen, Logan) 9:17; 5, Sea, Tolpeko 5 (Durand, Gibbons) 11:22; 6, Thompson 7 (Hansen, Tolpeko) 14:22 (pp); 7, Scurko 9 (Gagon) 16:02.

Key penalties – Hansen, Sea (tripping) 5:57; Mercer, Spo (holding) 13:26.

Third period– 8, Sea, Gibbons 11 (Jackson) :40; 9, Sea, Thompson 8 (Scurko) 19:49 (en).

Power-play Opportunities–Seattle 1 of 3; Spokane 1 of 3. Saves–Seattle, McHale 9-13-9–31. Spokane, Watt 13-7-9–29. A–3,913.