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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Devon McAndrews scores two goals to lead Chiefs past Portland

Devon McAndrews broke through Wednesday night and scored his first goal as a member of the Spokane Chiefs.

With that barrier broken, McAndrews added his second goal for some much-needed insurance against the always-dangerous Portland Winterhawks.

McAndrews broke a 1-all tie midway through the second period and gave Spokane a 3-1 lead early in the third period of a 4-1 Western Hockey League victory over Portland at the Arena. The Chiefs are 3-0-0-0 against Portland this year after losing their previous 16 games to the Winterhawks.

“That was probably one of my favorites,” said McAndrews, a 19-year-old left wing from Edmonton, Alberta. “First star, I’ve never had that before, and that was a pleasure playing out there. … Two-goal games, I think I had one or two back in midget, but that was probably it. I had one three-point game last year but nothing like that, that’s for sure.”

Garret Hughson made 38 saves, including some crucial first-period saves that kept the Winterhawks from extending their 1-0 first-period lead.

“We had the same opportunities at the other end that we failed to cash in on,” Chiefs head coach Don Nachbaur said. “(The Winterhawks) are a good team. They’re going to get their chances. Our goalie was strong and I thought we settled down after the first 5 or 6 minutes of the game and got into our game plan versus the run-and-gun.”

Spokane (22-14-3-0) and Portland (21-18-0-3) entered the night tied for second place in the U.S. Division. The Chiefs (47 points) closed within five points of first-place Everett, which lost at Regina.

McAndrews came to Spokane in mid-October in a trade with Tri-City. He broke his left wrist in his second game with the Chiefs, against Seattle, and missed 10 weeks. His first game back was Dec. 28 against Portland.

“I was happy because I wasn’t really fitting in with Tri-City,” McAndrews said. “There wasn’t the spot for me on the roster. Once I heard I got traded to Spokane, with the beautiful rink, awesome staff and great coach, I was happy.”

Spokane trailed 1-0 until Jason Fram scored at 4:53 of the second period, 2 seconds after a Chiefs power play ended. McAndrews’ first goal, less than 4 ½ minutes later, was a rebound of Markson Bechtold’s shot. His second goal came at 1:50 of the third, soon after a Portland power play expired.

“(The first goal) just popped off the goalie’s (Adin Hill) pad,” McAndrews said. “It was an easy goal with a wide-open net. … The second goal, it hit him on the left side of the chest and just trickled in. It somehow found its way in.”

Earlier in the day, Hill had been named Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Week after posting back-to-back shutouts over the weekend.

“We got a couple of unlikely goals from Devon, which is great to see,” Nachbaur said. “We need contributions beyond the first-line guys.”

Adam Helewka completed the scoring with 1:28 left with his team-high 21st goal, an empty-netter.

Portland hosts Spokane at the Arena on Friday night.

Injury report

Forwards Blair Oneschuk and Hudson Elynuik are listed as indefinite; forward Calder Brooks is TBD; and defenseman Jordan Henderson is 4-6 weeks.