The Spokane Chiefs defeated the Seattle Thunderbirds 7-6 in a shootout Friday night at Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane.

The T-Birds had a 6-3 lead at the midway point of the third period but were not able to hold the lead. Spokane scored three goals in 4:26 late in the third to send the game to overtime.

In the shootout Spokane elected to shoot first. The first shooter was Mitch Holmberg and heat beat Seattle goalie Brandon Glover with a backhand shot. Connor Sanvido was Seattle first shooter and heat beat Spokane goalie Garret Hughson low to tie the shootout.

Todd Fiddler was the second shooter for Spokane and he was denied by Glover. Seth Swenson was the second shooter for Seattle and he was stopped by Hughson.

Brenden Kichton was the third Spokane shooter and he was able to beat Glover for a goal. Roberts Lipsbergs had a chance to tie the shootout and send it to sudden death, but his move at the left post was stopped by Hughson to get Spokane the win.

Spokane (23-8-1-0) took a 1-0 lead at 3:35 of the first period when Dylan Walchuk scored. Holmberg and Marek Kalus had the assists.

Seattle (16-15-1-1) tied the game 1-1 at 11:39 of the first on five-on-three power-play goal. Connor Honey moved the puck to Shea Theodore at the right point. Theodore stickhandled into the high slot and then slid the puck over to Sanvido near the bottom of the left circle. Sanvido snapped the puck high past Spokane goalie Eric Williams who was lunging across the crease to make the save. It was Sanvido’s 10th goal of the season.

The T-Birds converted 38 seconds after their first goal, in a similar fashion as the first, to take a 2-1 lead. Brendan Rouse got the puck to Roberts Lipsbergs in the high slot. Lipsbergs sent the puck to Luke Lockhart in the left circle. Lockhart beat Williams high for his 13th goal of the year.

The Chiefs outshot the T-Birds 15-9 in the first period.

The T-Birds started the second period down a man due to a penalty late in the first period. Luke Lockhart was able to score a shorthanded goal 49 seconds into the period to extend the lead to 3-1. Jerret Smith rimmed the puck from behind the Seattle net around the boards. The puck got past a Chiefs defenseman at the left point. Lockhart skated to the puck and came in on a breakaway moving right to left. Lockhart dragged the puck across the low slot and beat Williams with a backhand shot for his second goal of the night.

Spokane cut Seattle’s lead to one goal when Riley Whittingham scored at 1:57 of the second. Kalus and Carter Proft were credited with the assists.

Roberts Lipsbergs scored at 11:16 of the second to give the T-Birds the two-goal lead back. Alexander Delnov took a shot from the high slot that Williams kicked to Lipsbergs to the left of the goal on the goal line. Lipsbergs whipped the puck past Williams high for his team leading 17th goal of the season. Honey had the second assist on the goal.

Seattle extended the lead to 5-2 on some nice hustle from Riley Sheen. Theodore sent the puck down the right wall into the Spokane zone. Sheen outraced a Spokane defenseman to get the puck and create a two-on-one with Justin Hickman. Sheen skated through the right circle and then crossed the puck to Hickman. Hickman blasted the pass past Williams who was sliding across the crease to try and make the save.

Spokane led 25-18 in shots after two periods by outshooting the T-Birds 10-9 in the second period.

Spokane replaced Williams with Garret Hughson to start the third period. Williams stopped 13 of 18 shots in 40 minutes of action.

Honey extended the T-Birds lead to 6-2 1:27 into third period just after a power play ended. Delnov took a shot from the high slot that Hughson stopped. The puck rebounded to Honey coming through the slot. Honey turned and whipped the puck past Hughson for his 10th goal of the season. Sheen had the second assist on the goal.

Holmberg scored a five-on-three power-play goal at 8:09 of the third to get the Chiefs third goal. Brenden Kichton and Reid Gow had the assists.

Holmberg struck again on the power play, at 14:31 of the third, to cut the T-Birds lead to two goals. Kichton and Gow had the assists.

Holmberg completed the hat trick at 17:09 of the third to get the Chiefs within one goal. Kichton and Kalus had the assists.

Spokane pulled Hughson and it paid off as Mike Aviani scored at 19:05 of the third to tie the game 6-6. Kichton and Holmberg were credited with the assists.

Spokane outshot Seattle 19-2 in the third period.

Both teams had several scoring chances in overtime but the goalie for both teams stood tall and kept the game tied. Seattle outshot Spokane 5-2 in overtime.

Spokane outshot Seattle 46-25 in the game.

Glover made 40 saves on 46 shots and his record is now 15-12-1-1.

Hughson stopped six of seven shots and his record is now 4-1-0-0.

The T-Birds have two games remaining before they take a nine-day break for the holidays. They play the Portland Winterhawks at the Rose Garden at 7 p.m. today. They return home to take on the Tri-City Americans at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday.

The T-Birds holiday ticket package is back. Twenty-four- and 12-ticket voucher packages for home games are available online. The ticket Packages also can be purchased by calling the T-Birds office at 253-239-7825.

SCORING SUMMARY

First period – 1, Spokane, Walchuk 9 (Holmberg, Kalus), 3:35. 2, Seattle, Sanvido 10 (Theodore, Connor Honey), 11:39 (pp). 3, Seattle, Lockhart 13 (Lipsbergs, Rouse), 12:17. Penalties – Hickman, Sea (major-fighting), 3:42. McIntosh, Spo (major-fighting), 3:42. Swenson, Sea (delay of game), 5:27. Gal, Spo (interference), 5:52. Valcourt, Spo (holding), 10:50. Gow, Spo,(slashing),10:55. Wardley, Sea (major-fighting), 14:02. Proft, Spo (major-fighting), 14:02. Hickman, Sea (tripping), 17:18. Valcourt, Spo (roughing), 18:36. Swenson, Sea (roughing), 18:36. Hauf, Sea (roughing), 19:44.

Second period – 4, Seattle, Lockhart 14 (Smith), :49 (sh). 5, Spokane, Whittingham 2 (Kalus, Proft), 1:57. 6, Seattle, Lipsbergs 17 (Delnov, Honey), 11:16. 7, Seattle, Hickman 8 (Sheen, Theodore), 13:24. Penalties – Whittingham, Spo (roughing), 14:35. Gow, Spo (hooking), 19:19.

Third period – 8, Seattle, Honey 10 (Delnov, Sheen), 1:27. 9, Spokane, Holmberg 20 (Kichton, Gow), 8:09 (pp). 10, Spokane, Holmberg 21 (Kichton, Gow),14:31 (pp). 11, Spokane, Holmberg 22 (Kichton, Kalus), 17:09. 12, Spokane, Aviani 17 (Kichton, Holmberg), 19:05. Penalties – Elliot, Sea (tripping), 3:41. Foulk, Sea (double minor-roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 6:11. Whittingham, Spo (roughing), 6:11. Rouse, Sea (interference), 7:25. Forsberg, Sea (roughing), 13:12.

Overtime – No scoring. Penalties – No penalties.

Shootout – Seattle 1 (Sanvido G, Swenson NG, Lipsbergs NG), Spokane 2 (Holmberg G, Fiddler NG, Kichton G).

Shots on goal – Seattle 9-9-2-5-0 25, Spokane 15-10-19-2-1 47. Goalies – Seattle, Glover 46 shots-40 saves (15-12-1-1); Spokane, Williams 18-13, Hughson 7-6 (4-1-0-0). Power plays – Seattle 2-5; Spokane 2-7. A – 5,626. Referees – Jason Cramer, Sean Raphael. Linesmen – Jeremi Del Campo, Anthony Guzzo.