Tij Iginla registers hat trick, Spokane Chiefs fall at Kelowna 6-3
Oct. 8—Tij Iginla and Michael Cicek scored power play goals within 35 seconds of each other at the start of the third period and the Kelowna Rockets beat the Spokane Chiefs 6-3 in a Western Hockey League game at Prospera Place in Kelowna, B.C. on Saturday.
Iginla, the 17-year-old son of NHL Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla, added a breakaway goal with 4 minutes remaining and an empty netter with 18 seconds left for a hat trick.
The Rockets (2-2-1-0) started the final frame on a power play as a result of a check to the head major by Chiefs defenseman Owen Schoettler at the end of the second period.
Just 20 seconds into the third, Chiefs defenseman Saige Weinstein was boxed for a kneeing penalty to give Kelowna a five-on-three. The Rockets won an offensive zone draw and Iginla walked in from the point and fired past Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan to put Kelowna up 3-2.
Not 20 seconds later, Iginla brought the puck into the zone on the rush. His shot was knocked down, but Cicek banged the loose puck under Cowan to make it 4-2 1:18 into the third.
Spokane center Berkly Catton made it a one-goal game with 9:01 to go. He collected the puck at the blue line, carried down the left wing and whipped a wrist shot past Jake Pilon's glove hand for his third goal of the season.
But Cicek sprung Iginla on a breakaway and the 17-year-old faked left and put a backhander behind Cowan to restore a two-goal lead with 4:09 left.
The Chiefs (2-3-0-0) produced good early pressure and picked up the first power play of the game 6 minutes in. They quickly cashed in as Owen Martin streaked down the right wing and fed Carter Streek, who tapped in a cross-crease pass for a 1-0 lead at 7:06 of the first.
The Chiefs have scored first in all five games they've played.
The lead lasted exactly 90 seconds long. A neutral zone turnover led to a Kelowna two-on-one the other way and Michael Cicek beat Dawson Cowan through the five-hole to tie it.
Kelowna took the lead a few moments later as a long rebound from a short-angle shot went right to defenseman John Babcock at the top of the left circle, who buried it behind Cowan to make it 2-1.
It could have been worse, but Cowan made a blocker save on a Turner McMillan breakaway with a minute left in the period.
Kelowna outshot its visitors 18-6 in the first.
Spokane tied it at 8:14 of the second. At the end of a power play Streek hit the crossbar on a rush and Lukáš Král batted the rebound out of the air and past Pilon for his first WHL goal.
Midway through the second Kelowna got loose on a two-on-none. The shot went wide, and Chiefs defenseman Owen Schoettler drilled Kelowna winger Andrew Cristall hard behind the net, triggering a brawl.
Schoettler was assessed a check to the head major and the resulting penalties prompted 2 minutes of four-on-four and 3 minutes of power play for Kelowna.
The Rockets didn't convert in the second but made good in the third and the Chiefs couldn't recover.
