Oct. 30—The Spokane Chiefs dug themselves too deep a hole to escape against an opponent far from home in Game 5 of a brutal nine-game road trip.

The Edmonton Oil Kings scored four goals in the first period – and scored two shorthanded goals on the night – in a 6-3 win over the Chiefs in Western Hockey League play at the arena on Wednesday.

This is the only matchup this season between the Chiefs (9-6-0-0) and the Oil Kings (6-5-1-1).

“We weren’t ready as a group,” Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. “I didn’t think we understood who we were playing. I don’t think we were prepared for this type of game, which is unacceptable.”

The first period was bad enough, but it could have been worse if goalkeeper Dawson Cowan hadn’t made two impeccable saves in the first five minutes.

“We keep talking about the learning process, but at some point we have to understand, we have to learn. And that’s the responsibility (of the coaching staff),” Lauer said.

After Cowan’s early exploits, Edmonton launched the attack when Gracyn Sawchyn threw Adam Jecho on a breakaway for his fourth goal of the season.

The Chiefs got their second power play of the period, but Brayden Crampton saw his shot from the center blocked, triggering another breakaway. Roan Woodward’s shot hit the post, but the Oil Kings got the rebound and fed Cole Miller, whose shot from the slot sailed through Cowan’s glove and floated into the net for a short-handed goal.

Edmonton added to the lead twice in the final 1:06 of the period. First, Gavin Hodnott’s point-blank shot went past Cowan at the near post, then Gracyn Sawchyn’s deflection went in with 3 seconds left to make it 4-0.

“There were so many things we weren’t doing, and there wasn’t just one area to focus on,” Lauer said of the first intermission speech. “The most important thing is that we weren’t competing. We weren’t playing for each other; we weren’t a team. … We had to start competing before we could make adjustments .”

The Chiefs found some life in the second. They finally got on the board with just under 7 minutes left in the period, when Chase Harrington pulled down a rebound on a power play, his fourth goal of the season.

They made it two with 1:51 left in the period when defenseman Owen Schoettler got behind the defense and converted a cross-ice pass from Hayden Paupanekis for his second goal of the season.

“We brought it a little bit,” Lauer said. “It was good to see. It shows a little bit of character. But again, it’s a 60-minute match.”

The momentum didn’t last long. Midway through the third period, the Oil Kings scored their second shorthanded goal, then added an empty net with 1:20 remaining.

“It’s been a problem all year,” Lauer said of the shorties. “I think we’ve scored six or seven shorthanded goals now, and that’s unacceptable. It’s the responsibility of the power play to handle the puck, to do the right things with it, at the right time. And we don’t We didn’t do well this year.

Roster update: Chiefs 16-year-old goaltender Carter Esler and forward Mathis Preston will miss the next six games as they participate in the 2024 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge in Sarnia, Ontario, with Hockey Canada.

The Chiefs recalled guard Ryan Tamelin as an affiliate player during Esler’s absence. Tamelin, a 6-foot-8 goalie from Invermere, British Columbia, was recently acquired by Spokane from the Victoria Royals