Chiefs Face Must-Win Time Again Spokane Plays Host To Portland Tuesday, In Game 6 Of West Division Playoff Series

It’s a good thing the Spokane Chiefs play better with a deadline. They have a big one coming up.

For the second time in three playoff series, the Chiefs have to win a Game 6 to remain in the hunt for the Western Hockey League championship.

Down three games to two to the Portland Winter Hawks, the Chiefs will resume their rivalry with the Hawks for the West Division title in the Arena Tuesday night at 7.

With a win, the Chiefs can take the series back to Portland’s Rose Garden for a decisive seventh game on Wednesday night. Should they lose, they’ll be idle until the Memorial Cup playoffs begin here on May 9.

To get back to Portland, the Chiefs will need a better defensive effort from all hands, starting with David Haun in goal. They were thrashed 9-2 in Portland on Saturday night.

Haun is used to the pressure.

It was in Game 6 in the first round, with the Chiefs down 3-2, that Haun got the first playoff start of his career. He posted a shutout on the road and Spokane went on to crush Kelowna in the seventh game.

Haun played big throughout the playoffs until Saturday night, when he allowed four goals in little more than 16 minutes in two different stints.

But Haun allowed only two in the first period, and neither could be attributed to a goaltender’s mistake.

Haun was asked if he was surprised when he came out after giving up the second goal.

“I don’t know, not really,” he said. “We were at the point of the game where we needed some kind of a jump start or a spark. and that’s one way to get it going. Our team - everyone - wasn’t on their game tonight.”

Was Portland shooting better than ever?

“It was just one of those nights, I think, when they were getting a lot of really good opportunities and were capitalizing,” Haun said. “We’ve got to shake it. It’s not over by any means, but we only have a couple of days to get ready for the next one.”

Notes

Tuesday night’s game will be Spokane’s 17th in 31 days. With the travel, it’s a month with very little down time - and a lot of room for the mental blahs that plagued the team Saturday… . Should the Chiefs take two straight from Portland, they’ll head to Brandon, Manitoba, to start the WHL championship series on Saturday night… . The injury that kept Chiefs defenseman Rick Berry out of Game 3 is not a back muscle, as reported, but a groin injury.

UP NEXT Tuesday: Portland at Spokane, 7 p.m. Portland leads best-of-7 series 3-2.