Spokane Chiefs put in ‘60-minute effort’; fall in overtime to Portland 6-5

It’s been a long December for the Spokane Chiefs, but Friday night at the Arena the home team put together its best 60-minute effort in a couple of weeks.

A wild final 10 minutes prompted overtime, and despite the Chiefs’ solid performance the visitors got the best of the extra session.

James Stefan scored his second goal of the game 1 minute, 26 seconds into overtime and the Portland Winterhawks sent the Chiefs 6-5 to their seventh consecutive loss in a matchup between the two Western Hockey League U.S. Division rivals.

Berkly Catton scored two short-handed goals and Conner Roulette had a goal with three assists for the Chiefs (10-17-2-0).

“It was a pretty solid game,” Chiefs coach Ryan Smith said. “We did a lot of good things tonight and it was nice to see – it’s been a few games since that’s happened. So, it’s a step in the right direction.”

The teams were tied at 3 entering the third period. Roulette broke the tie midway through the period as he took a pass in the slot from Chase Bertholet and sent a backhander past backup goalie Nick Avakyan, who entered for starter Justen Maric after the second intermission.

Catton was called for a delay of game with just under 4 minutes to play and Portland (20-9-1-1) made the Chiefs pay, as Jack O’Brien notched a power-play goal, his 13th of the season, to tie it again.

Chiefs defenseman Brayden Crampton found the net 24 seconds later with 2:30 left in the game, but Portland’s Josh Davies found the equalizer a minute later.

But an extended offensive zone shift at 3-on-3 resulted in a goal for Stefan, and the Chiefs’ losing streak continued.

“You’ve got to play right till the end, you know,” Smith said. “They were able to find a way to tie it twice and that’s just probably the way it’s going right now for us.

“When you’re in a bit of a skid, and it’s really hard to get out of it, and they’re on a heater and it’s easy to stay on it.”

Spokane center Rasmus Ekstrom was whistled for holding a mere 38 seconds into the game. Cooper Michaluk made a nifty kick save on Portland’s first shot, then the Winterhawks failed to hold the zone on a line change.

That sent Catton and Roulette in on a 2-on-1, and Roulette drew Portland goalie Justen Maric out and feed Catton with a touch pass, who avoided a stick check and sneaked the puck in the back door for his 21st goal of the season.

Portland tied it up 8 minutes in as Davies’ long pass through the neutral zone sprung Stefan on a breakaway off the right wing and he beat Michaluk with a backhander for his 22nd of the season.

Diego Buttazzoni made it 2-1 a few minutes later. Michaluk made an initial save on the Portland winger, but the puck went right back to Buttazzoni and he buried the rebound while Michaluk scrambled to find the puck for his 13th goal of the season.

With 1:44 left in the period, Spokane’s Will McIsaac was called for high-sticking in the offensive zone. But with 30 seconds left, Stefan was assessed a 4-minute high-sticking and the Chiefs escaped further damage.

Bertholet hit the crossbar during the ensuing power play at the start of the third period. With 4 seconds left on the advantage, Portland’s Marcus Nguyen stole a puck from Ty Cheveldayoff at the point, carried into the zone and beat Michaluk for his 11th of the season to make it 3-1.

Cheveldayoff made it 3-2 moments later, tapping home a backhanded centering pass from Ben Bonni. It was just his fourth of the season following a 20-goal effort last season.

“Where he scored his goal tonight is where he’s got to live – right in front of the goal,” Smith said.

“Hopefully, that springboards him into the second half.”

The Chiefs picked up their second shorty at the end of the period.

With just 3.5 seconds left in the period, Catton and Roulette won the puck on a forecheck and played give-and-go, with Roulette making a backhand feed to Catton, who converted as he was being hauled down for his second short-handed goal of the night and his 22nd of the season.

“They had good games,” Smith said of Catton and Roulette. “They had nice chemistry; they finished those plays off.”