Chiefs start strong, fall short 7-4 to Silvertips Tuesday night
Spokane, Wash. – Despite playing a close game through two periods, the Spokane Chiefs couldn’t keep up with the Everett Silvertips Tuesday night, falling short to their divisional foes 7-4 at home.
Spokane came out hot, as Berkly Catton rushed up the ice before feeding the puck back to overage forward Conner Roulette who chipped it into the net for his 30th goal of the season to give the Chiefs an early 1-0 lead at 3:01.
Goal 3️⃣0️⃣ for Conner Roulette gives us an early 1-0 lead! Berkly Catton gets the assist.#GoChiefsGo pic.twitter.com/hjXrxCVTIP
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) January 31, 2024
Defenseman Layton Feist padded it to a 2-0 lead with a rocket from the blue line just 95 seconds later. Owen Schoettler and Cam Parr earned the assists on this one.
Everett pulled one back a little over halfway through the frame thanks to Teague Patton on the power play.
With less than two minutes to go in the opening period, Shea Van Olm wrestled a puck away from a Silvertip along the left wing boards and got it out to a rushing Catton, who deked past another ‘Tip and danced his way to the net before chipping the puck over the shoulder of Everett’s goalie for his 32nd goal of the year. Colorado Avalanche prospect Saige Weinstein also earned an assist on the play.
Silky. Filthy. Berkly.
3-1 good guys, assists for Van Olm and Weinstein!#GoChiefsGo pic.twitter.com/f7PBfRnVpW
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) January 31, 2024
Austin Roest sneaked in his first of three goals on the night with under a minute left in the frame to make it 3-2 Chiefs heading into the break.
The second period began as the first one ended, with Roest notching his second goal of the night at just under the halfway mark to even the score at three apiece.
Rookie Carter Bear added a goal of his own at 17:39 to push Everett to a 4-3 lead – their first lead of the game.
This time, it was Spokane with a last-minute score to end the period. Van Olm raced alongside a Silvertip up the right wing side, fighting for the puck all the way, before sweeping it across the slot, turning at the left circle and firing it to the twine for the short-handed 4-4 equalizer at 19:38.
MY OLM MY!!!
Shea Van Olm a one-man show down the ice and a huge effort to get a short-handed goal and tie the game 4-4 🚨#GoChiefsGo pic.twitter.com/PneJdUuWnZ
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) January 31, 2024
The final frame was all Everett, though, starting with Roest completing his hat trick at 4:04 with a power play goal. Dominik Rymon followed that up with his 25th of the season at 7:09 before Beau Courtney sealed the deal with an empty-netter at 19:14 to secure the 7-4 win for the Tips.
Despite the final score, Cooper Michaluk was outstanding in net for Spokane, finishing with 41 saves on 47 shots including a couple impressive robberies over Silvertip leading scorer Ben Hemmerling.
Muks has the stuff 😤#GoChiefsGo pic.twitter.com/1bpIvC5gFI
— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) January 31, 2024
The Chiefs were outshot 47-38 and went 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill, with Van Olm posting Spokane’s 11th short-handed goal of the season.
Up next, the Chiefs will hit the road to take on the Silvertips again Friday night in Everett.
