The Portland Winterhawks, with the best record in the Western Hockey League's Western Conference, took advantage of seven power-play chances Friday night to score three times and blank the Spokane Chiefs 3-0 at the Arena. Spokane, after defeating Portland on Monday and Wednesday, came up empty despite seven power-play opportunities, one breakaway and a penalty shot. Read story
Rattie said he heard from people who wondered what was wrong with Portland after it dropped four consecutive games. The Winterhawks lost just once during November and once during December.
“It happens to every team in every season, there are little struggles,” he said. “Teams were just outworking us. We knew Spokane was a very hard-working team, one of the hardest-working teams in the league, so we were happy with our game tonight.”
The rough play, which resulted in 15 penalties, didn't surprise Rattie.
“You play a team three times in a row, something's gonna give in the third game,” he said. “We were expecting it. They're a tough team and we like the toughness of our team, too.”
Nachbaur said he's still looking for some of his better players to shake their doldrums.
“Unless our best players ARE the best players for us, we have no chance,” he said. “Our best players have to skate and compete, and some of them just stood around and they were a problem tonight.”
Portland's Troy Rutkowski set a franchise record with his 327th career game, including 216 consecutively.
The next Spokane-Portland game is Feb. 2 at Portland.
Jim Allen Sports reporter Jim Allen's primary coverage areas are Eastern Washington University football and men's basketball, Whitworth University men's basketball, and college and high school soccer. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.
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Christian Caple Sports reporter Christian Caple covers Washington State University athletics. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.
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Greg Lee Greg Lee covers high school sports in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.
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Jim Meehan Jim Meehan's coverage areas include Gonzaga University men's basketball, Whitworth University football, the Spokane Shock, golf and volleyball. He also contributes to the SportsLink Blog.
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Chris Derrick Chris Derrick is a sports reporter for the sports section. His primary coverage areas are the Spokane Chiefs, women's basketball and high school sports in the fall and spring.
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Josh Wright Josh Wright is a freelance correspondent who covers the University of Idaho football team and men's basketball team.
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Vince Grippi is the online producer for SportsLink, a product of The Spokesman-Review.
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