Mayes’ laser knocks out Kamloops, Chiefs win 3-2
Spokane, WA – The Spokane Chiefs kicked off a busy weekend on Saturday night, hosting the Kamloops Blazers for the first of two straight. Saturday was the Fred Meyer Wall Calendar Giveaway with the first 3,000 fans going home with a calendar featuring all your favorite Spokane Chiefs players. It was also Pride Night with several local community Pride organizations on the concourse hosting informational booths, Pride merchandise available at the Team Store, and a specialty Pride Puck for the teams to use on the ice. Over 9,900 raucous fans packed the arena for the first home game of the New Year.
Spokane came out of the gates fired up after three straight road games over the past week. The Chiefs peppered the net in the first, firing 17 shots on target, hitting the post multiple times. It was forward Hayden Paupanekis finding free space on the back post for the power play goal at 4:49 in the first, giving Spokane the 1-0 lead. For Paupanekis it marked his 10th score of the season and third in the past four games. Chase Harrington and Asanali Sarkenov provided the assists. Sarkenov returned to Chiefs’ ice for the first time since December 14th after scoring one goal for Team Kazakhstan at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships.
Spokane controlled much of the first, but were tied up by a hopeful blue line shot that snuck past the defense with just seconds remaining in the period. The goal was the first in Jager Gugyelka’s WHL career so far.
The Blazers took a 2-1 lead with an early power play goal at 2:15 of the second thanks to the score from Jordan Keller. Spokane found their groove, hitting the net with 16 shots in the period. Coco Armstrong was rewarded for his strong play of late, finding the net for the first time this season. Mathis Preston and Nathan Mayes chipped in with the assists on the play.
It was all to play for, tied at 2-2 after two.
The third period was a tight affair with both teams looking for the winning shot. In the end it came from an unlikely source, defenseman Nathan Mayes. The Salmon Arm native took the puck at the blue line, deked around a charging Blazers’ player, and sniped the top corner to give the Chiefs a 3-2 lead at 11:43. Mathis Preston recorded his second assist of the game, while fellow rookie Brody Gillespie provided his first career WHL assist on the play.
The Chiefs defense stood strong, preventing Kamloops from finding a late equalizer even after pulling the goaltender. Spokane led the shot count 43-24, going 1/3 on the power play and 3/4 on the penalty kill.
Dawson Cowan made key, timely saves enroute to his 20th win of the season and 50th of his WHL career.
These same two teams will meet again tomorrow, January 5th for Neurodiversity Awareness Night with an early Sunday puck drop at 5 PM. Doors will open at 4 PM. Click here for more info on Neurodiversity Awareness Night and what to expect for the fan experience.
