NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB Spokane Chiefs captain Berkly Catton celebrates his first period goal, his first of two goals on the night, as Spokane beat the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-2 Sunday at Co-op Place to win Game 2 of the WHL Championship series.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The Spokane Chiefs seem to have the answer in the WHL Playoffs.
They’ve fallen behind in games throughout their run to the WHL Championship series, showcasing an ability to respond within games and, as seen this weekend, in series.
After a 4-1 Game 1 loss on Friday to the Medicine Hat Tigers in the opening game of the WHL finals at Co-op Place, the Chiefs rebounded with a 6-2 Game 2 win Sunday to even up the series heading back to Spokane.
It was a win that saw a role reversal from the Chiefs, after being limited to a majority of outside chances in Game 1, they responded. In both games they surrendered the first goal in the first minute. Sunday’s win saw a better response from the Western Conference champions.
“They got that one, they were just as ready but I liked our bench, we’re all saying the right things and it didn’t really phase us,” head coach Brad Lauer said Sunday postgame. “We stuck with it, like we have for most of the playoffs. When we get down, we stuck with it and we just kept chipping away at this thing.
“Finally we got our legs going and got our legs underneath us and we started playing the way we wanted, that we talked about. The way we looked at video and wanted to make those changes that we wanted to make. You could see our game coming in after that first goal.”
The Chiefs’ top line of Berkly Catton, Andrew Cristall and Shea Van Olm were -3 in Game 1, with Catton scoring the lone goal on a power play. They rebounded in Game 2 with Catton taking over the game with a goal and two assists, Van Olm had a goal and assist and Cristall tallied a pair of assists. The former Kelowna Rocket liked the effort from his line, as well as the rest of the group.
“Not just our line, but all four lines played an unreal game,” Cristall said. “We obviously wanted to have a little bit more of a bounce-back game. Five on five we played pretty well. So we get a lot of confidence, especially heading back home.”
Catton’s efforts over the weekend, three goals and four points, earned him the WHL’s player of the week honours. It’s the fourth time this season he’s been tabbed with the award, also named the WHL’s player of the month in February.
Rookie forward Mathis Preston took home rookie of the week with a goal and an assist in Sunday’s win.
In that Game 2 vcitory, Spokane was able to limit Medicine Hat offensively, outshooting the Tigers in both games and snapping Gavin McKenna’s point streak Sunday at 54 games. Lauer says they try to take away his room to do damage by sticking to their structure as a team.
“He’s a special player, he’s put the numbers up, he’s had a great year, a good couple years and we’re just trying to take his time and space away when he’s on the ice,” Lauer said. “He’s going to get his points, he is going to get his opportunities. You just have to make sure you limit them the best you can.”
The Chiefs return to Spokane with Game 3 tonight, Game 4 Wednesday and Game 5 on Friday. They’ll look to avoid a trip back to Medicne Hat for Games 6 and or 7 as they are three wins away from their first WHL Championship since 2008. Lauer pumped the breaks on any ideas of winning the series at home.
“This is going to be a long series, we’ve talked about it, we’re a team who doesn’t get too far down the road, we just think of the next game,” Lauer said. “That first game back home is going to be important for us. We have to make sure we’re ready and we made the adjustments that we needed to make today.
“This series is long from over. Our focus is making sure we’re ready. We’ll make a few more changes that we have to for Game 3, and then be ready to be ready in our barn with our fans.”
