Chiefs’ Streak Reaches Eight as Beckman Pots Hat Trick
Red Deer, Alberta — One game removed from scoring his 100th point of the season, Spokane Chiefs forward Adam Beckman was clearly happy to put the milestone behind him, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist to lead the Chiefs to a 5-1 win over the Red Deer Rebels on Friday night. The win marked Spokane’s eighth in a row, marking their longest since the 2010-11 season, when they won nine.
Spokane found the net first as forward Michael King fired an innocent looking shot on net from the right point. Red Deer goalie Byron Fancy was screened on the play, allowing the puck inside the near post for King’s 13th of the season.
Beckman added on midway through the second, pushing the Spokane lead to 2-0 with a laser under the crossbar off a perfect cross-ice set-up from Eli Zummack.
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???? SPO 2 – RD 0#GoChiefsGo #mnwild pic.twitter.com/4FevFyOjgz— Spokane Chiefs (@spokanechiefs) March 7, 2020
The Minnesota Wild prospect then assisted on Spokane’s third goal of the night, forcing a turnover in the neutral zone before dropping the puck for team captain and New Jersey Devils prospect Ty Smith, who joined the rush for a perfect one-timer to beat Fancy. Smith finished the game with three points (1G-2A) and a +4 rating.
Cameron Hausinger cut the lead back to two with a nice play in tight on a Rebels power play. The veteran forward slid his 12th of the season past Spokane netminder James Porter Jr. to make it 3-1 in favor of Spokane headed into the second intermission.
Beckman struck again under a minute into the third as Leif Mattson made a nice play from right to left before flipping the puck back to center. Beckman was there to tap it into a wide open net for his second of the night to push the lead to 4-1.
The WHL’s leading goal scorer picked up his third of the night and 47th of the season with a shot from the left circle on a late power play, giving him his third hat trick of the season and fourth of his career.
Porter Jr. turned away 32 of 33 shots faced to earn third star honors as the Chiefs outshot the Rebels 35-33. Spokane finished 1-for-4 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill.
Spokane last won eight or more games in a row when they won nine from Feb. 25 – March 18, 2011. The franchise record is 12, set during the 1995-96 campaign. The Chiefs have won 14 of 15 games.
The Chiefs close out their three-game road trip at Calgary on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST / 6 p.m. PST.
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Spokane returns home on Tuesday, March 10 for Washington’s Lottery Night and TicketsWest Player Magnet Giveaway at Spokane Arena as they host the Kamloops Blazers.
Tickets for all Chiefs home games are available now online and via the Chiefs’ Ticket Office, over the phone at 509-535-PUCK or in-person at Spokane Arena during regular business hours.
