By Mackenna Jamieson

The Kamloops Blazers needed a win after losing to the Prince George Cougars on Saturday and they sure got it against the Spokane Chiefs, beating them with a score of 4-2.

Both teams were in playoff spots in the their respective divisions going into Wednesday’s game.

Max Martin scored a powerplay goal halfway through the first period putting the Blazers on the board first, then a little over two minutes later Chiefs defenseman Filip Král tied the game up making it 1-1.

In the second period forward Brodi Stuart scored on the powerplay giving the Blazers back the lead.

Josh Pillar scored the third goal for the Blazers in the third period which will eventually be the game winner as Luke Toporowski scored for Spokane a few minutes later, and to seal the deal Blazers captain Zane Franklin put one in the empty net, making the final score 4-2.

Orrin Centazzo got his 150th career WHL point with an assist on Franklin’s goal.

Goaltending was also very strong from both netminders, with some quick reactions and solid glove saves, both Dylan Garand (Blazers) and Lukáš Pařík (Chiefs) stood tall for their teams. Garand made 30 saves on 32 shots and Pařík had 36 saves on 39 shots.

Pillar was the first star of the game with a goal and an assist, bringing his points total for this season to 33. Garand was second star with a stellar goaltending performance and Toporowski of the Chiefs was the third star.

Head coach Shaun Clouston says his team has been persistent and is proud of how they work together.

“So far we’ve been able to remain pretty consistent, we had different guys step up and play well when we had a few injuries and a night like tonight, goaltending becomes a big part of it and Garand has been very solid, very consistent which I think has really helped”.

Currently, Kamloops sits atop of the B.C. division with a record of 32-12-2-1.

The Blazers next game will be this Friday against the Vancouver Giants.