Spokane Chiefs notebook: Offense, power play struggles continue into holiday season; goalies cool off after hot start

Dec. 2—Last season on their run to the Western Hockey League championship series, the Spokane Chiefs featured a prolific offense — second in the WHL overall in goals scored with the top-ranked power play.

This year has been a drastically different story.

The team graduated four of its top five scorers. The fifth — captain Berkly Catton — made the NHL's Seattle Kraken out of training camp and remains with the team, having his entry-level contract activated after playing in his 10th game of the season.

Those departed players have left a gaping hole in the offensive output.

After Saturday's 4-1 loss to the Kelowna Rockets — the second home loss to the Rockets in less than a week — the Chiefs find themselves next to last in the league in goals scored with 66 (2.64 per game), just three goals ahead of last-place Wenatchee and one of just four teams with fewer that 75 goals.

Edmonton leads the WHL in goals scored with 125, nearly double the Chiefs' total. The Chiefs don't have a player in the top 100 in points this season — team leaders Mathis Preston and Chase Harrington clock in tied with several others in 120th in the league with 17 points apiece. They both have eight goals and nine assists.

As a result, after a three-game losing streak the Chiefs (12-13-0-0) sit in fourth place in the U.S. Division and in ninth overall in the conference.

The scoring challenges are even more evident on the power play.

Spokane scored on 28.9% of its power play opportunities in the 2024-25 season, with 74 goals in 256 chances.

But they've gone from first-to-worst in the category. This season, the Chiefs are hitting on just 7.4% of chances, with a measly seven power play goals in 95 chances.

Wenatchee is next worst, more than doubling the Chiefs percentage at 17.5% (18 of 103). The Chiefs and Wild are two of just four teams under 20%.

For historical reference, the Chiefs record for fewest power plays goals in a season is 46, set in 2004-05 and 2022-23.

"The power play is no good," Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said bluntly following Saturday's loss. "It shouldn't be like this. We've got the personnel that's been on there (all year). We should be executing it. We haven't changed anything from last year, except for some guys that aren't here. It's the same power play; it's the same message. It comes down to making sure we were ready to do it and execute it."

Lauer has tried different combinations in an effort to add a spark, but so far all efforts have been for naught.

"We've got to find a way to get things done," he said. "We've got to shoot and get to the net. And right now, we are refusing to shoot the puck and get guys into the area where we need to be to score goals. And when you're going to be stubborn like that, you're not going to score goals."

In the net: After a strong start to the season, the goaltending tandem of Carter Elser and Linus Vieillard have cooled off as well, perhaps under the strain of backing a unit struggling to score goals.

The pair rank 18th and 19th in the league in goals against average, with Esler (3.28 goals against per game in 13 games) a tick ahead of Vieillard (3.32 in 15 games).