Spokane Chiefs thump Portland Winterhawks when everything goes their way
Just about everything went right for the Spokane Chiefs on Friday night. They peppered Portland Winterhawks’ goaltender Cole Kehler with 50 shots, scored on three of their four power plays, and were gifted a goal when the Winterhawks played the puck into their own net in one of the wackiest plays of the year.
It all added up to a dominating 9-3 win for the Chiefs.
Seven different players had goals and 11 players had points in the win. Hudson Elynuik and Jaret Anderson-Dolan each had two goals. Elynuik added an assist. Ty Smith, Eli Zummack and Nolan Reid all had two assists.
Elynuik’s second goal was the highlight of the night. After he high-sticked a Portland defenseman, the Winterhawks pulled their goalie to get an extra attacker on the delayed penalty call. An errant Portland pass out of the Chiefs’ zone went to nobody and bounced off the boards near the penalty boxes at just the right angle to slide down the ice and into the empty net.
Off-ice officials had to take their time to review the game tape to see who last touched the puck for Spokane. It turned out to be Elynuik, the same guy who took the penalty.
“That’s the first time in my life I’ve seen something like that,” Elynuik said.
The Chiefs have struggled against Portland this year. This was just the second win in seven games against the Winterhawks, and the three power play goals were a huge boost.
“Against this hockey club, the first five times we played them, that was the difference,” Chiefs coach Dan Lambert said. “Their power play was real good and ours wasn’t. Over the last couple games there’s been a switch. We will welcome that. Our power play needs to start clicking.”
Ethan McIndoe got the massacre started at 5:55 of the first period when he put the puck past Kehler out of a net mouth scramble on the power play for his 10th goal of the season. Defenseman Tyson Helgesen scored his fifth of the year at 9:11 of the first.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan rounded out the scoring in the first period when he scored his 20th of the season on a partial breakaway.
Portland’s Jake Gricius got the Winterhawks on the board after Spokane couldn’t get the puck out of its zone. Cody Glass also scored in the second, but goals from Zach Fischer, Jake McGrew and Elynuik helped Spokane continue its dominance.
McGrew’s goal was especially impressive considering he took a nasty hit in the neutral zone in the second period and had trouble getting to the bench. He was back for a normal shift a short time later.
“I heard a pop which was probably my knee brace, which scared me for a second,” McGrew said. “But after that I got to the bench and took a breath and everything was alright.”
McGrew tore his ACL at the beginning of the 2016-2017 season and sat out the entire year.
The Chiefs got goals from Anderson-Dolan and Luke Gallagher in the third period. Gallagher’s goal was the first of his career.
Yamamoto wins bronze
Spokane’s Kailer Yamamoto and Team USA beat his Chiefs teammate Filip Kral and the Czech Republic 9-3 Friday for the bronze medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships in Buffalo.
Yamamoto played just nine minutes total in the bronze medal game and had no ice time in the third period with the U.S. enjoying a comfortable lead. The 19-year-old suffered a lower body injury at the conclusion of the semifinal game when he took a vicious slash from Sweden’s Oskar Steen.
Yamamoto finished the tournament with two goals and two assists in seven games. Kral had one goal in seven games.
Lambert said he has an idea of when Yamamoto and Kral will be back in the Chiefs lineup but nothing is set in stone. Lambert also said the team has been in contact with USA Hockey regarding Yamamoto’s injury.
“We are as anxious as anybody else to make sure our guys are OK,” he said.