Portland has its way with Chiefs

It’s a good thing you stayed home to watch the GU game on TV. You didn’t miss anything here.

As Gonzaga was gamely battling UConn in the first half of the Maui Classic championship game, the Spokane Chiefs had already started their Thanksgiving break a day early. And that was just in the first period.

The Portland Winter Hawks scored four unanswered first-period goals – two on the power play – and cruised to an 8-3 Western Hockey League win over the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday night at the Arena.

If you were a Chiefs fan, this one was a real turkey. Spokane came out sluggish, looking as if its players had snuck a bite of breast meat and were ready for their after-meal nap from the effects of tryptophan (that thing in turkey that makes you sleepy).

The Winter Hawks scored three goals on their first six shots and ran Spokane goalie Jim Watt out of the game – as they had done on Oct. 21 in a 6-3 win at the Arena – just nine minutes, 40 seconds into the game. Watt was pulled after Nick Hotson gave his team a 3-0 lead.

Watt had a lot of help in giving up the early goals. Chiefs defenseman Justin Falk was caught well out of position on two of the first three goals and left Watt vulnerable.

Once again, rookie Thomas Stehr was called in to stop the bleeding. The results were about the same as the first time (his WHL debut) – not so good, but not necessarily his fault.

Portland eventually ran its advantage to 5-0 at the 4:12 mark of the second period on a goal by Chiefs-killer Brandon Dubinksy. He has five goals and eight assists in five games against Spokane this season.

At that point, Spokane had just five shots on goal for the game.

The Chiefs showed some life in the second period, scoring three goals (by David Linsley, Michael Grabner, and Drayson Bowman) and got a knockout win from toughman Myles Stoesz in a fight with Garth Collins.

But the closest Spokane could get was three goals, at 6-3, which is how the period would end. The Chiefs ended up with 12 shots in the period, but gave up 14.

Portland added two goals for the final margin in the third period, but they were inconsequential. All that was left was for the teams to have a throwdown near the Winter Hawks bench with 5:29 left in the game. It was one of two situations which teetered on the edge of a line brawl, but cooler heads prevailed.

Stoesz was in the middle of most of the action, getting a double-minor and a game misconduct out of the latter incident. All in all, Spokane’s lack of discipline put Portland on the power play seven times, leading to five extra-skater goals.

“Portland defenseman Justin Mazurek, a 17-year-old rookie from Calgary, Alberta, didn’t make the trip to Spokane, instead having season-ending shoulder surgery.

Mazurek played in 11 games and was a +1 with 21 penalty minutes. He dislocated his shoulder during a pillow fight on the team bus during Portland’s last road trip to Spokane.

-(Portland) Oregonian

Winter Hawks 8, Chiefs 3

First Period—1, Portland, Woolger 14 (Funk, Bailey), 5:19 (pp). 2, Portland, Hansen 13 (Bubnick), 7:55. 3, Portland, Hotson 2 (Sauer), 9:40. 4, Portland, Funk 4 (Woolger, Hansen), 19:31 (pp). Second Period—5, Portland, Dubinsky 11 (Funk, Bubnick), 4:12 (pp). 6, Spokane, Linsley 2 (Schulz, Klassen), 6:39 (pp). 7, Portland, Fike 1 (Dubinsky), 9:22 (pp). 8, Spokane, Grabner 9 (Salmonsson, Schulz), 10:24. 9 Spokane, Bowman 7 (Ryan, Klassen), 18:54. Third Period—10, Portland, Hotson 3 (Bailey, Funk), 8:33 (pp). 11, Portland, Sceviour 2 (Bailey), 18:29.

Power-play Opp.—Portland 5 of 7; Spokane 1 of 3. Saves—Portland, Butler 31 saves. Spokane, Watt 3 saves; Stehr 26 saves. A—4,145.