Sports stats



WHL Spokane Chiefs

Chiefs Start Strong, But Fall 6-3 to ICE to Open Road Trip

December 9, 2022 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Spokane Chiefs News Release


Winnipeg, M.B. - The Spokane Chiefs came out strong, but ultimately fell to the Winnipeg ICE 6-3 to open their eastern conference road trip Friday night.

The Chiefs were quick to end their seven-period scoring drought as Saige Weinstein pushed the puck to Tommaso De Luca behind the Chiefs' net, who carried it all the way across the ice, threading through Winnipeg defenders and taking it top shelf to give Spokane a 1-0 advantage at 1:23 in the first period.

But the lead didn't last long, as Conor Geekie set the teddy bears flying just 37 seconds later on his 16th goal of the season. Zach Benson added on at 3:37 to put the ICE up 2-1. The Chiefs held Winnipeg off for the rest of the frame and went into the first break down by only one goal.

Spokane managed to stave off a potent ICE offense for the entire second frame, while adding a second goal of their own to tie things up at two apiece. It was Carter Streek who evened the score with his seventh goal of the season at 13:05.

Winnipeg regained their lead immediately once the third period started, though, with Benson's second goal of the night coming just 44 seconds into the frame to make things 3-2.

Geekie also netted his second of the game about seven minutes later to give the ICE a 4-2 lead.

The Chiefs fought back, capitalizing on a man advantage at 12:22 as Cade Hayes found Jake Gudelj in front of the net, who connected with De Luca for the Italian-born forward's second goal of the game. The goal again brought Spokane within one at 4-3.

Their momentum was quickly quelled, however, as the ICE tacked on back-to-back goals (one empty-netter) to close out the period and cap the scoring at 6-3.

The Chiefs went 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. They were outshot by Winnipeg, 44-28.

Cooper Michaluk started in net for Spokane and turned away 38-43 shots.

Up next, the Chiefs head to Brandon to take on the Wheat Kings before finishing the rest of their road trip in Saskatchewan.

-

The Chiefs' next home game is Wednesday, December 28 versus the Seattle Thunderbirds. It's a TicketsWest Player Magnet Giveaway - the first 1,000 fans through the doors will receive a refrigerator magnet featuring a Chiefs player courtesy of TicketsWest. Collect them all throughout the season! Tickets for December 28 and all regular season games are available online at spokanechiefs.com/tickets.

Check out the Spokane Chiefs Statistics



Western Hockey League Stories from December 9, 2022


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central