Blazers break Chiefs at end

In a physical, tightly contested hockey game, one bounce of the puck can decide it.

That was the case Saturday night at the Spokane Arena as the Kamloops Blazers posted a 4-2 win over the Spokane Chiefs in Western Hockey League play.

Blazers captain Reid Jorgensen redirected a Brock Nixon shot with 6 minutes, 3 seconds remaining to give Kamloops the winner. Jorgensen then added an empty-net goal with 18.5 seconds left.

Kamloops (15-7-1-1) ended a three-game winning streak for Spokane (11-10-3).

The game was a goaltenders’ duel, as rookie Dustin Tokarski of Spokane matched veteran Dustin Butler shot for shot.

Seth Compton gave the Chiefs a 1-0 lead at the 13:33 mark of the first, breaking open a tightly played contest by hacking away at his rebound until he got it past Butler.

The period ended that way, with only nine total shots on goal by the teams.

Spokane looked like it was going to self-destruct in the second, but the Chiefs managed to rally and come out of the period tied.

Kamloops showed its explosiveness with two goals just 27 seconds apart to take a 2-1 lead.

The first goal came on the power play, courtesy of a Chris Langkow penalty, when Nixon won a battle for the puck with Sean Zimmerman and got it past Tokarski on a deflected shot off the shoulder of defenseman Dan Mercer.

The goal at the 6:20 mark of the second set off a ferocious Kamloops effort.

The Blazers came right back with a Ryan Bender goal at the 6:47 mark – off the ensuing face-off – after Tokarski made three consecutive saves on Kamloops players.

Then, midway through the second, Spokane fell back into some old habits.

The Chiefs put themselves in a 5-on-3 penalty kill situation when Corey Courchene was called for checking from behind and Mike Reddington was called for hooking in the ensuing chaos.

But Spokane gave itself new life by killing off the two-man advantage, thanks in large part to a couple of big saves by Tokarski – including one while he lay on his side on the ice and somehow covered the puck at the near post to get a whistle.

The crowd cheered the Chiefs’ effort and it gave them new life, as they had dodged the Blazers’ knockout attempt. Spokane picked up its intensity over the next 5 minutes and it finally paid off.

At the 17:39 mark of the second period, Drayson Bowman took a feed from Derek Ryan just inside the right circle. Bowman took in the puck, spun around 360 degrees, then put a wrist shot high, glove-side past Butler.

The goal tied the game entering the third.

Blazers 4, Chiefs 2

First Period—1, Spo, Compton 5 (Koper, Spurgeon) 13:33. Second Period—2, Kam, Nixon 17 (Jorgensen) 6:20 (pp); 3, Kam, Bender 1 (Delaronde, Mason) 6:47; 4, Spo, Bowman 10 (Ryan) 17:39. Third Period—5, Kam, Jorgensen 14 13:57 (pp); 6, Kam, Jorgensen 15 (Delaronde) 18:42 (en).

Power-play Opp.—Kamloops 2 of 8; Spokane 0 of 4. Saves—Kamloops, Butler 16 saves. Spokane, Tokarski 33 saves. A—6,513.