Red Deer, A.B. – Linus Vieillard and the Spokane Chiefs held strong late in the third period to secure a 3-2 win over the Red Deer Rebels Saturday night. The win improves Spokane to 6-4-0-0 on the season, including 3-1-0-0 on this road trip so far with two games remaining before the team heads home.
The Chiefs got off to a hot start by peppering the net with 10 shots in the first period. The first one to break through was 20-year-old Sam Oremba as he pushed in a rebound in the crease from a hard Mathis Preston shot. It was Oremba’s first goal of the night, giving Spokane an early 1-0 lead at 8:51.
The Rebels answered
The Rebels answered on the power play five minutes into the middle frame as Landon MacSwain scored his third of the season with help from Jaxon Fuder and Derek Thurston.
About ten minutes later, Chase Harrington came up successful on a faceoff before getting the puck right back from Coco Armstrong in the slot before connecting with the twine for his third goal of the year.
The Chiefs held onto the 2-1 lead through the rest of the second period and into the break, as German goaltender Linus Vieillard stopped the rest of Red Deer’s 10 shots.
Nine minutes into the third Oremba earned himself a penalty shot. Oremba slowly worked his way up the left wing before sweeping the puck across the ice, pushing it ahead, then behind, then ahead again as he chipped it past Chase Wutzke and into the net for a 3-1 lead. The slick move marked the overage forward’s fourth game of the season and second of the night.
Red Deer made a late push with another power play goal, this time from Talon Brigley, with just 22 seconds left to play, but ultimately the Chiefs were able to put this one to bed as Vieillard came up with a couple big saves at the end of the game.
Spokane went 0-for-2 on the power play and 4-for-6 on the penalty kill. Vieillard turned aside 22-of-24 Rebel shots.
Up next for Spokane Chiefs
The Spokane Chiefs will take on the Calgary Hitmen in a rare Sunday afternoon matchup at the Scotiabank Saddledome tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. PT.