Rookie goalie Carter Esler strong in net, Spokane Chiefs run out of time in 2-1 loss to Everett

After Saturday’s win, Spokane Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said, “Every team we’re playing right now is a playoff contender for us.”

On Sunday at the Arena the Chiefs faced off in a playoff-style game against the top team in the conference. And even this late in the season, it’s another learning opportunity for the young Chiefs as they prepare for what they hope is a long playoff run – even if it didn’t result in a win.

Rookie goalie Carter Esler did what he could, making 30 saves, but the Chiefs were edged by the first-place Everett Silvertips 2-1 in a Western Hockey League showdown.

The Chiefs (44-20-1-1) are locked into the Western Conference third seed with two regular -season games left and will face the No. 6 seed, most likely Vancouver or Tri-City.

The Silvertips (46-12-4-4) clinched the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s regular -season champions for the second time in franchise history.

“I think there’s some areas in our game where we’re not committed to playing it, and you know, at times we are,” Lauer said. “But when you play good teams like Everett, you’ve got to do it every shift. You can’t just pick and choose.

“For me, it’s not near enough for where we need to be going into the playoffs and teams we’re going to be playing against.”

It’s the second time this week the Chiefs lost to Everett at home.

“I’ll bet we’ll see (Everett) again,” Chiefs captain Berkly Catton said. “Going through these (losses) now, really hurts right now, but I think it’s gonna help us when we get to that situation. I feel this group so resilient and we have it in us to go all the way. We need to come out the other side for that to happen but tonight’s a big learning experience.”

Everett defenseman Landon DuPont, who this season became the ninth player in CHL history – and just the second in the WHL – to be cleared to play junior hockey full time at age 15, had a goal and an assist for the Silvertips.

“He figured in both goals. He’s an exceptional player, and you can’t give him that time and space,” Lauer said of DuPont. “We’ve got to make things a little more tighter for him, a little more difficult. I think at times we did, but then at times with his abilities he able to escape and create opportunities.”

The close checking first period saw very few good scoring opportunities as the teams and combined for just 11 shots on goal. Everett finally broke through late in the period when Jesse Heslop scored a power play goal with a wrist shot from the left wing circle, his 25th of the season, off a primary assist by DuPont.

“It was really tight,” Catton said. “I think that just goes to show that at the end of the season, it’s playoff hockey and it’s gonna be 2-1, 3-2 games. It’s kind of good to go through these games, maybe even before the playoffs, to kind of get our feet wet and see what it’s like.”

The Chiefs were awarded a power play with 17 seconds left in the period and it carried over to the second. Benefiting from fresh ice, they cashed in just 1 minute, 13 seconds into the period when Catton won a puck below the goal line and backhanded a pass to Cristall in the slot, who made no mistake with it for his 47th goal of the season.

Cristall and Catton are No. 1 and 3 in scoring in the WHL.

Esler, who usually draws the second of back-to-back games as he did Sunday, stopped all 18 shots he saw in the period.

“He doesn’t get the ‘great’ starts all the time,” Lauer said. “But credit to him. He stays sharp. I thought he was good. I thought he did a lot of good things, and he was seeing the puck well, he tracked it well. There wasn’t a lot of second, third opportunities.”

It stayed tied until 6:14 of the third when DuPont took a pass from Owen Cooper and snapped a shot past Esler for his 16th goal of the season and a 2-1 lead.

The Chiefs’ comeback attempt was curtailed late. Rasmus Ekström was called for hooking, and 27 seconds later defenseman Nathan Mayes was sent off for delay of game, putting Spokane down 5-on-3.

They killed off both infractions and went back to full and even strength with 1:08 left. They pulled Esler and got a couple of chances, but Everett was able to clear its zone and hold on for the close win.

“It was a good kill. That was a big, big step up for our penalty killers,” Lauer said. “We just ran out of time.”