THN's WHL Game Of The Week Recap: Wild @ Chiefs

Welcome to this week's edition of THN's WHL Game of the Week. In this weekly column, we break down one of the most exciting games from the weekend that was. This week, we examine a high-scoring affair between the Wenatchee Wild and Spokane Chiefs.

These two U.S. division foes faced off for the first time this season and did not disappoint. The scoring started off early, with Spokane's Connor Roulette snapping home his 15th of the season to open up a 1-0 lead for the home side. The Cheifs would then add to their lead with less than four minutes left on the power play thanks to  Owen Martin's fifth of the season to make it a 2-0 game. Spokane would hold onto their two-goal lead until late in the first when, on the power play, Briley Wood's ninth of the season made it a one-goal game. Despite giving up the goal, the Chiefs continued to press and were rewarded in the dying seconds of the first as Rasmus Ekström scored his first career WHL goal with 40 seconds remaining to establish the two-goal lead and send Spokane into the intermission up 3-1. 

Just like the first, the second period featured plenty of goals, except this time, it was Wenatchee who started finding the back of the net. Less than a minute into the second frame, the Wild were once again able to capitalize on the power play as Conor Geekie scored his 12th of the campaign to bring the deficit within one. Then, just a few minutes later, Kenta Isogai's 12th pulled the score level, but only briefly, as Spokane's Ben Bonni's second of the season just 18 seconds later would put the Chiefs back up by one. Spokane would hold the lead for a few minutes, but unfortunately for the Chiefs, Matthew Savoie had other plans. 

Savoie would go on to score the next three goals of the game, all at different strengths, to complete his first hat trick of the season. His first two came in the second, where he scored on the power play and shorthanded, while his third was an even-strength goal seven minutes into the third to put Wenatchee up 6-4. The Buffalo Sabres prospect put the team on his back, with this 20 minutes of play being some of the best hockey he has played since returning from the NHL. 

As for the rest of the third, it was a back-and-forth battle with plenty of goals. After Savoie made it 6-4, Spokane was able to pull within one thanks to  Chase Bertholet fourth with under seven minutes to play. The Wild then responded three minutes later as Hayden Moore scored his third of the season to make it 7-5. The Chiefs would once again make it a one-goal game with under two to play as Ekström scored his second of the game before Rodzers Bukarts hit the empty net a few seconds after to seal the 8-6 victory. Combined, 17 different players had points as these two divisional rivals kicked off their rivalry in style. 

Make sure to check back next week for another exciting recap of THN's WHL Game Of The Week.