Chiefs brush back rival Americans

SPOKANE - Kyle Beach scored his Western Hockey League-leading 48th goal of the season, Jared Spurgeon and former Coeur d'Alene Laker Tyler Johnson finsihed with three assists apiece, and the Spokane Chiefs defeated the U.S. Division-leading Tri-City Americans 5-2 in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,529 at the Spokane Arena on Saturday night.

Levko Koper, Kenton Miller and Brady Brassart also scored for Spokane, which went 3 of 7 on the power play.

"That goal by Koper was a huge one for us at the end of the first period," Johnson said. "We seem to play really hard against Tri - I guess because they are our rival. This was a good win for us."

The Chiefs (40-18-1-2, 89 points), who sit five points behind the Americans and three back of Everett in the division, play the Rockets at Kelowna, British Columbia, on Wednesday.