Spokane opens homestand with 4-2 win

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Chiefs picked up their ninth win in their last 10 home games on Wednesday night as they defeated the Prince George Cougars, 4-2. Goaltender Reece Klassen picked up his first win with the Chiefs.

The Chiefs got on the board with the first score of the night at 4:23 when – on a power play – Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Filip Kral took the puck around the backside of the Prince George net and chipped it to a streaking Nolan Reid, who promptly deposited past Cougars goaltender Taylor Gauthier.

Nearly 10 minutes later, Spokane struck again on the power play, this time just seven seconds into man advantage as Ty Smith fired a rocket from the point that slipped by Gauthier and put the Chiefs up 2-0 headed into the first intermission.

Prince George got their first goal of the game just 31 seconds into the second period when Joel Lakusta fired one home from the right point. The Chiefs outshot the Cougars 8-6 in the period, but failed to find the net as things headed on to the third with the home team leading 2-1.

The third period remained scoreless until the 12:56 mark, when the Chiefs took advantage of a costly Prince George turnover as Eli Zummack hesitated netfront before floating the puck into the blue paint. Overage forward Luc Smith pushed it home to make it 3-1.

Prince George made things interesting with 1:10 left when, with their own net empty, they fired a shot on goal that rebounded off Klassen and found the stick of Josh Maser, who punched it in to cut the lead in half.

Chiefs winger Jake McGrew added on an empty-netter – extending his goal-scoring streak to five games – to put the final stamp on the 4-2 win for Spokane.

Klassen was 15-of-17 on shots faced in his debut, while Gauthier was 23-of-26 for the Cougars. Spokane was able to convert on both of their power play chances, while Prince George went 0-for-2.