Chiefs 4 - Cougars 1

For the first time in 2011-2012, the Spokane Chiefs were able to defeat the Prince George Cougars. Friday night in Prince George, Spokane scored twice in a 41-second span in the second period en route to a 4-1 victory.

The Cougars started strongly, and opened the scoring at 7:39 of the first period. Daulton Siwak, freshly off of being named Player of the Month for February scored his 15th of the season off his own rebound. Troy Bourke did a fine job of getting Siwak the puck in front of Mac Engel. Siwak did the rest to record his team-leading 10th goal in the second-half of the season.

Moments later, Campbell Elynuik and Chiefs captain Darren Kramer dropped the gloves and had a spirited tilt. Each combatant landed some good shots before they were separated by the linesman.

Spokane tied the score at 15:56 when Marek Kalus potted his 18th of the season. Cole Wedman held a shot in at the point, and then found Kalus in front of Drew Owsley who made no mistake.

Both teams traded chances early in the second period, but both Mac Engel and Drew Owsley were solid for their respective teams in goal.

Todd Fiddler gave Spokane the 2-1 lead at 10:53 of the second. Fiddler put home a Davis Vandane pass at the side of the goal for his 12th of the season. 41 seconds later the Chiefs added to their lead when Darren Kramer converted off a Mike Aviani pass to the left-wing side.

Spokane would take their 3-1 lead into the third, and would add a quick one early in the final frame. Dylan Walchuk whacked home his seventh of the season from in close on Drew Owsley. Walchuck was able to find the loose puck underneath Drew Owsley and shovel it home.

The Cougars were given a string of late power plays, and while they didn’t score, they sure moved the puck around well. Mac Engel had to make a couple of big saves towards the end of the game to keep the game at 4-1.

Spokane finished with a 38-18 edge in shots. Neither team was able to record a power play marker.

With the loss, the Cougars are now five points back of the Everett Silvertips for eighth place in the Western Conference standings. The Cougars have eight games remaining, with four games at home and four on the road.

Spokane pushed the season series to 2-1-0-0 in favor of the Cougars.

These teams meet again tomorrow night (Saturday) at CN Centre.