Chiefs Update: Second Round in Sight

It may be a blessing in disguise for the Spokane Chiefs, as they sit just one win away from a date with the Vancouver Giants in the Western Conference semifinals, but their three wins over the Seattle Thunderbirds in the first four games of the opening round have come in a variety of ways.

Last Friday, in the playoff opener, Chiefs stud Drayson Bowman tallied twice and Spokane goaltender Dustin Tokarski turned aside 31 of 32 shots as the home team eked out a win in a defensive struggle, 2-1.

The next night was more of the same, except the opposite, as the Thunderbirds defeated Bowman 2-1. Calvin Pickard, the game's first star, made 33 saves on 34 shots to get his first career playoff victory.

With Seattle claiming home ice advantage after stealing a win in the Lilac City, the Chiefs turned the tables in a big way, scoring twice on the power play and penalty kill and getting a pair of goals and assists from Levko Koper in a 5-1 blowout. The win was a stark contrast to the first two games in Spokane, in which the Chiefs failed to score on special teams and got no goals from anyone not wearing #27.

That success continued into Wednesday's game, as Spokane took a stranglehold on the series by defeating Seattle 3-2. Each team tallied twice in the first half of the first stanza, but settled down from there on. The lamp was only lit halfway through the second, when Ondrej Roman decided to start contributing to the Chiefs again with his first of the playoffs, which stood as the game-winner. The Chiefs special teams continued its superior play, scoring once in five power play chances while killing all three of Seattle's man advantages. In all, the T'Birds are just 1 for 15 in the first four games of the series (being outscored by Spokane yet again on their own power play), while the Chiefs have scored three times on just 14 power plays.

And not to sound like hockey's version of John Madden, but if you don't score against the Chiefs, you won't win a long series versus them. With six goals in four games, Seattle is fortunate that they get to return east for a Game 5. By comparison, the Giants, who lurk on deck for Spokane, scored 17 goals in the first two games of their series against the Prince George Cougars and, needless to say, went on to a victorious sweep.

For Spokane, it's nice to be up 3-1 in the series, but without Jared Cowen, the offense will need to put up big numbers in round 2 (yeah, assuming they finish the job Saturday, Sunday or Tuesday night). So far, they've scored 11 goals in four games, but nearly half of them came in one game. Game 5 could be a golden opportunity to get their top lines clicking and the timing would be perfect, as Spokane is 0-2 on the season against Vancouver.

First things first though. Seattle has an explosive offense, capable defense and a goalie who is looking to make a name for himself and escape his brother's shadow. Spokane needs one more spectacular performance to force a rematch of last season's second round. Go Chiefs Go!