WHL Roundup: A look at Saturday's games

Spokane Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur has become the fourth person to coach 1,000 career games in the Western Hockey League.

Nachbaur's milestone came on Saturday night as his Chiefs downed the visiting Tri-City Americans 5-2.

Nachbaur has coached three WHL clubs, spanning 14 seasons, and currently is in his third year with the Chiefs. Last season he became the sixth coach in league history to earn 500 career victories.

"I've been around a real long time and been real fortunate to be on winning teams, and that's really been my longevity," said Nachbaur. "It's really about the players, not me as a coach. It's really the kids that bought into the plan we threw in front of them."

Nachbaur joins all-time leader Ken Hodge (1,411), Ernie McLean (1,067) and Lorne Molleken (1,016) on the list of people who have coached 1,000 WHL games.

"I'm just a guy that goes to work every day," said Nachbaur.

Liam Stewart scored twice for the Chiefs (17-7-1) while Blake Gal, Mitch Holmberg and Todd Fiddler had a goal apiece.

Jesse Mychan and Parker Bowles scored for the Americans (16-8-2), who lost for the first time in five outings.

Eric William made 19 saves for the win as Eric Comrie turned aside 24-of-28 shots in a losing cause.

Neither club could score on the power play as Spokane went 0 for 5 and Tri-City 0 for 2.

The victory moves the Chiefs one point ahead of the Americans for second place in the U.S. Division standings.

Elsewhere in the WHL, it was: Prince Albert 5, Brandon 2; Edmonton 2, Medicine Hat 1 (OT); Red Deer 2, Moose Jaw 1 (SO); Kamloops 2, Vancouver 1; Everett 4, Kootenay 3; Kelowna 9, Saskatoon 2; Portland 8, Seattle 2 and Victoria 3, Prince George 2.

At Spokane, Wash., Gal opened the scoring at 12:02 of the first period to give the Chiefs a 1-0 lead, however Mychan responded for Tri-City with 17 seconds remaining in the period.

Fiddler scored the only goal of the second period and it came at 1:16 to give the Chiefs a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.

Bowles responded for the Americans 2:10 into the third period, but Spokane scored three straight goals to secure the victory.

Holmberg scored at the eight-minute mark, and Stewart followed him up with his first goal at 18:22 and his second into an empty net 55 seconds later.

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Raiders 5 Wheat Kings 2

At Prince Albert, Sask., Dakota Conroy set up three of his club's goals and Luke Siemens turned away 24-of-26 shots as the Raiders (18-7-2) beat Brandon (10-13-3) for their third win in a row.

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Oil Kings 2 Tigers 1 (OT)

At Edmonton, Keegan Lowe scored the game winner with only one second remaining on the clock and Tristan Jarry stopped 24 shots as the Oil Kings (16-5-4) slipped past Medicine Hat (11-15-2), which is winless in its last seven outings.

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Rebels 2 Warriors 1 (SO)

At Red Deer, Alta., Patrik Bartosak stopped 42 shots and Brady Gaudet scored the shootout winner as the Rebels (15-11-2) edged Moose Jaw (8-11-7) for their fifth straight victory.

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Blazers 2 Giants 1

At Kamloops, B.C., Colin Smith scored both of his club's goals and Cole Cheveldave made 26 saves as the Blazers (20-6-2) handed Vancouver (7-17-0) its fourth straight defeat.

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Silvertips 4 Ice 3

At Everett, Wash., Tyler Sandhu scored two goals and Daniel Cotton made 34 saves as the Silvertips (10-15-2) downed Kootenay (7-15-1), which have dropped three games straight.

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Rockets 9 Blades 2

At Kelowna, B.C., nine players for the Rockets (14-8-2) recorded a multi-point game including Myles Bell, who scored twice and added an assist, as Kelowna crushed Saskatoon (11-12-1).

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Winterhawks 8 Thunderbirds 2

At Kent, Wash., Brendan Leipsic scored twice and added two assists and Oliver Bjorkstrand also scored twice as Portland (21-4-1) won its fourth game in a row by beating Seattle (11-13-1).

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Royals 3 Cougars 2

At Victoria, Brett Cote scored the game winner with just under three minutes left in the third period and Patrik Polivka made 31 saves as the Royals (13-12-0) beat Prince George (9-12-4).