Chiefs Fall Out Of First

One night after the Spokane Chiefs tied the Portland Winter Hawks for leadership of the Western Hockey League’s West Division, the Winter Hawks put them in their place.

Portland scored early and often Sunday night en route to a 5-0 victory. Marian Hossa scored twice for the Winter Hawks, while goaltender Brent Belecki fended off a barrage of Spokane shots.

Spokane suffered only its third road defeat while ending a trip that included three games in three nights.

Hossa began the scoring after only 1:59 of the first period, receiving a pass from Brenden Morrow and pulling Spokane goalie Aren Miller out of the net for an open shot.

Kevin Haupt scored at 7:22 to make it 2-0 after a period in which Spokane outshot Portland 19-11.

After the Winter Hawks scored twice more in the second period, Hossa ran his season total to 13 goals at 10:58 of the third.

Belecki finished with 35 saves as Portland upped its record to 19-5-1. Spokane fell to 18-7-1.