Portland trips Chiefs
The Portland Winterhawks seem to have the Spokane Chiefs' fans' number.
For the third time in as many tries, Portland won at the Arena, taking a 3-2 decision at the Arena Wednesday night. In five games between the teams, the visitor has won every one.
This game was about missed chances for the Chiefs. Read below for the unedited game story I filed for Thursday's paper.
By Dave Trimmer
davet@spokesman.com; (509) 927-2154
Rumor has it the Spokane Chiefs can beat the Portland Winterhawks, hard as that may be to believe with the way their three Western Hockey League games have unfolded at the Arena.
The Hawks (22-13-1, 45 points) leap-frogged past the Chiefs (21-10-2, 44) in the U.S. Division standings with a late power play goal for a 3-2 win before 3,766 fans Wednesday night.
“I think quite honestly their goalies have stolen the last two,” Chiefs coach Hardy Sauter said. “In the first game we just didn’t play well. The second game we lose 2-0 and the second is an empty netter. I thought we out-played them.
“Tonight again you could argue we out-played them and out-scored them and just couldn’t score. Disappointed in the loss but at the same time I think we did a lot of good things.”
What the Chiefs, who out-shot
“Some nights when things are going good those pucks seem to land on your sticks,” Sauter said. “Some nights when it’s a little rougher sledding it’s not as easy, you have to dig a little extra or almost guess where the puck’s going to be and then not go there.
“It’s just too bad because I thought we did generate enough good chances to win.”
The difference was Nino Niederreiter’s power play goal at 13:50 of the third period. He notched his 21st when Ryan Johansen’s pass from behind the net found him alone in front of the net.
Kyle Beach had taken the penalty for goalie interference when he crashed the goal following his own shot, looking to break the tie.
“I’m not upset or disappointed with what Kyle did,” Sauter said. “In a lot of circumstances it’s probably OK. Tonight, for whatever reason, both teams were going to the net and it was the ref’s decision that was a penalty. Nothing to do there but kill it and we didn’t. It’s too bad.”
Although the Chiefs, who have won twice in
And maybe their absence contributed to the Chiefs playing a little out of character.
“It was kind of a back-and-forth game, it’s not really what we
were looking for,” forward Mitch Wahl, who had both
“We did have our chances, he made some good saves, we just weren’t able to finish on some of them.”
Stefan Schneider cashed in on a short-handed breakaway at 14:17 of the second period.
Wahl tied it at 4:41 of the third, finding the same hole from between the circles on a four-on-two rush.
“I liked our effort in the third,” Sauter said. “The first two weren’t great periods but still OK. In the third, to come out and tie it up, I thought we did carry the play until that last power play. Too bad, but all the same, lessons to learn about our execution or lack thereof and move on.”
The Chiefs play