File this one under forget about it.
Eric Williams made 33 saves for Spokane, as the host Chiefs blanked the league's highest scoring team, posting a surprising 5-0 win over the Kelowna Rockets on Wednesday. Surprising because heading into last night's game at Spokane, Kelowna hadn't lost in regulation time in its past 19 games (17-0-2-0), while the Chiefs were winless in four.
"It was a disappointing game for us," said Rockets head coach Ryan Huska. "That's, really, all that needs to be said."
For those keeping score, Kelowna's last regulation-time loss was Dec. 16, when the Rockets fell 6-2 in Calgary to the Hitmen to close out a five-game road trip. Notably, though, Kelowna also lost 4-3 in Vancouver on Jan. 12, and 6-5 in Kamloops on Jan. 28, though both of those setbacks were in overtime.
At Spokane, Riley Whittingham, at 5:29 of the first period, then Mitch Holmberg at 6:51 and Mike Aviani at 15:42 scored early to give Spokane 3-0 lead. Todd Fiddler and Brenden Kichton rounded out the scoring for the Chiefs (31-20-2-0) in the second.
Starter Jordon Cooke, with 13 saves on 16 shots, and Jackson Whistle, with 20 saves on 22 shots, split the netminding duties for the Rockets (40-11-3-1), who were shutout for just the second time this season. The other time was 1-0 in Portland on Sept. 28.
Speaking of Portland, last night's defeat wasn't a total loss, as the Winterhawks also lost, 4-3 at home to Calgary. The result means that in Western Conference standings, Kelowna still trails Portland (43-8-1-2, 89 points) by five points.
ICE CHIPS: With Portland in town for two games at Prospera Place this Friday and Saturday, you'd think there'd be a high demand for tickets, considering it's a clash of the league's top two teams. But, oddly, there are 1,000 tickets left for each game.