Chiefs beat Brandon; 5-0 on road trip

The Spokane Chiefs picked up their first win in Brandon in 12 years as Mitch Holmberg scored 2 goals and an assist in a 5-2 win over the Brandon Wheat Kings. With the victory, Spokane improved to 5-0 on their road trip through the Eastern Division of the Western Hockey League, and is the team’s 6th straight win, their longest winning streak of the season.

The Chiefs Collin Valcourt scored his 11th goal of the season from Jason Fram and Jeremy McIntosh at 6:54 of the first period to give Spokane a 1-0 lead. Brandon countered on a goal at 15:21 to even the game at one. Spokane came right back as Holmberg scored his first of the night on a feed from Dylan Walchuk at 18:42 of the period to give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead after one. Neither team scored in the second as Spokane failed to score on its’ only two power play chances of the night in the period.

In the third, Walchuk scored his 8th goal of the season just 4:41 into the period to lift Spokane to a 3-1 lead. Brandon would cut the lead to 3-2 at 13:19, but Holmberg would score his second of the night from Adam Helewka just 1:06 later to put the Chiefs back up by two at 4-2. Holmberg would then hit Mike Aviani for an empty net goal with just 31 seconds remaining to seal the 5-2 win. Spokane goalie Garret Hughson turned away 19 of 20 Brandon shots in the third on his way to a 33 save night in picking up his 4th win of the year.

Walchuk finished with a goal and an assist, while his linemate Helewka had 2 assists. Defenseman Jason Fram also finished with 2 assists on the night. Spokane will seek its first 6-0 road trip through the Eastern Division in franchise history when they travel to Moose Jaw Saturday night at 5pm Pacific.