That sucked. **UPDATED**

Remember when I blamed Sam Grist for breaking the ice on New Year's Eve?  That was a joke (Billet Mom was still mad LOL).  Blaming him for last night's loss = not a joke.  The Chiefs scored 3 of their 6 while on the 5-minute power play for Sam's boarding penalty.  So he's at least 50% responsible for the loss.

Up to that point it was a fairly evenly matched game, shots were even, a lot of play in the neutral zone, both teams with drive and intensity.  Then it went to shit.  Chiefs have a lethal power play.  Full props to them for capitalizing on the opportunity they had.  The penalty killers just couldn't do enough to stop them.  And Driedger didn't have much of a chance on any of the goals.

A night after the Ams peppered the Bruins with 51 shots and kept them to 20, the tables were turned as the Chiefs fired away (especially in the 5-minute free-for-all) with 39 and keeping the Ams at only 23 shots.  Not going to win games, certainly not playoff games, with only 23 shots on net.

I get how having to kill off a 5-minute penalty (and having 3 goals scored in that time) can be deflating, but it seemed a lot of guys just gave up at that point.  Like assistant coach Scott Beattie said on the post-game show, there were a few drivers, but a lot of passengers in the 2nd half of the game.

Like Spokant said at one point--know who doesn't take 5-minute penalties?  Drydn Dow.

There's a few positives to take away  from the game (hey, I have to or I'd lose my mind).  First off, play of the goalies.  Sure 5 got by Driedger, but again, he didn't really have much of a chance on any of them.  Cam Gorchynski--how about this kid?  He was outstanding.  I also liked Kruise's passion first crack out of the box and show that his team meant business when he squared off with Kuhn.  And Carter Ashton...kid can fight.  I actually expected him and Cowen to go, the way they were chatting all night (and last weekend in Spokane too), but taking on Kramer was awesome, he got in some pretty powerful licks.

"Their power play hurt us," Tri-City coach Jim Hiller said. "They worked the puck around and buried it. That was the game. Until then, it was a tight game. Games like this, you can't make a lot of mistakes."

"We played well right from the get-go," said Spokane coach Don Nachbaur, whose team won for the first time this season at Toyota Center. "We controlled the game. We played hard and made it difficult for them to get to our net. We are fortunate. We came all the way from Kelowna, and we've played five in seven nights. We are a tired team. Credit our guys, they had a lot of energy."

"I don't think there's a doubt that was the turning point of the game," said Americans forward Adam Hughesman, who served Grist's penalty. "It was a costly penalty and we paid for it."

"They were good," Hiller said. "When you play good teams you need all of your guys. You have to show up and play. We'd better show up Monday in a frame of mind to get a different result." (Herald)

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"It's tough to take a five-minute major against these guys," Hughesman said. "They'll make you pay for it. They certainly did tonight."

"When I was 16, it came down to the final game of the season, and it's shaping up like that again this year," Hughesman said. "But if we keep throwing away games like this, we're going to fall back pretty fast. Portland and Spokane are great teams, and they're going to keep coming."

"It was pretty tight, not many chances either way," said Ams coach Jim Hiller. "But in games like this, you can't make a lot of mistakes."

"I don't think there's any doubt that was the turning point of the game," Hughesman said. "It was a costly penalty, and we paid for it."

"It's hard to kill off a match penalty," said defenseman Tyler Schmidt. "They got one right away on us, and then they still had 4 1/2 minutes to go at us."

"We can't have games like this, not with just 17 games left in the season," said Hughesman, who sat out the third period to nurse an injury. "They're division rivals, and ahead of us in the standings."

"We had a bad game in Portland (an 8-2 loss), and then we went back six days later and played a solid game," Hughesman said, referencing their 5-0 win Feb. 11. "We have to bounce back like that against these guys."

"The last two games, special teams have been the difference," Hiller said. "We'd better show up Monday with the mind frame to get a little dirtier. We need more guys who are fully engaged. You can't just be pretty good. When you play a good team, you need all your guys engaged." (Examiner emphasis mine)

The loss puts the Ams 4 points back from the Chiefs, 5 back from the Winterhawks, and 4th in the Western Conference.   Yes, they have games in hand,  but those game don't mean anything if you don't win them.  And neither the Chiefs nor the 'Hawks are going away.  Hell, the Winterhawks blasted Chilliwack with 61 shots on goal last night on the way to a 6-3 victory.  Poor Chilliwack, 102 shots in 2 nights.  Anyways, the Chiefs and Americans are back at it Monday night.  Yay?

The highlight of the night was Olie Kolzig blocking shots during the 1st intermission.  That was cool.

**UPDATE**
Sam Grist given 2 game suspension for hit last night.