‘The energy was outstanding’: Chiefs score twice in second period, beat Winterhawks 3-2

After Bear Hughes won a faceoff with one second left at the opposite end of the ice, the Spokane Chiefs’ players quickly descended on Cooper Michaluk.

Michaluk, making his first Western Hockey League start, had just stopped 36 shots, including a flurry of them after the Portland Winterhawks pulled their goalie for the final 2 minutes and 10 seconds, and he was about to get mauled.

“A lot of screaming, a lot of cheering,” Michaluk said. “We were all really happy and thrilled. It was crazy. Unreal.”

Playing against the hottest team in not just the WHL but perhaps all of the Canadian Hockey League, the Spokane Chiefs ended their four-game losing streak and beat the Portland Winterhawks for just the second time in 10 tries this season, 3-2 on Saturday night at Spokane Arena.

Portland had won 17 of its last 18 games, the only loss during that stretch coming in a shootout. The last team to beat the Winterhawks was actually the Chiefs, 4-1, way back on Dec. 17.

The Winterhawks’ three most recent victories had all come against the Chiefs, by a combined score of 24-4, including an 8-1 victory on Friday night in Ryan Smith’s debut as a WHL head coach.

“The energy was outstanding,” Smith said. “You saw guys blocking shots, you saw guys chipping pucks out, and I think that’s the way this team has to win. We’re probably not at the point of winning those 7-0, 8-0 games, (though) we wouldn’t say no to them.

“But I think tonight it was a team effort. Everybody played, everybody was doing the right thing. I think (our) effort and execution were really good tonight.”

Smith was promoted from associate coach on Thursday after the Chiefs fired Adam Maglio, who had held the position since the start of last season.

That was just the latest in a series of changes to the team since that last victory over the Winterhawks nearly two months ago. General manager Scott Carter traded 20-year-olds Cordel Larson and Luke Toporowski at the trade deadline in January, and then on Jan. 27 he announced he would not return next season, citing health and family reasons.

Smith acknowledged the changes but said that now, this is the Chiefs’ team going forward.

“This is our group,” he said, “and we’ll continue to try and build, get better and work together as a group.”

Paired with a loss by the Victoria Royals (12-28-4-1), this victory bumped the Chiefs (13-27-3-1) into ninth place in the 10-team Western Conference, one point behind the eighth-place Tri-City Americans (13-26-5-0).

Portland (29-12-3-2) remained in third place in the conference, nine points behind the top-seeded Everett Silvertips (33-7-2-4).

On Saturday, Spokane held Portland without a first-period goal for the first time in six games. Michaluk, who turned 17 on Jan. 23, stopped all 15 shots he faced in the period.

“I came into the rink today and I was like, ‘I need to dominate,’ ” Michaluk said.

In the second period, the Chiefs gave their goalie a lead when Carter Streek poked a rebound through goalie Dante Giannuzzi for his sixth goal of the season.

Giannuzzi got the start for Portland after Taylor Gauthier’s team-record shutout streak ended a night earlier at 251 minutes and 11 seconds. Gauthier was less than 15 minutes from the WHL’s all-time shutout record.

About six minutes after Streek’s goal, Marek Alscher tied the game. But following a scrum, Nick McCarry scored a power-play goal from the right circle to return the lead to the Chiefs with 6:29 remaining in the second.

Then, five minutes into the third, Streek skated behind Portland’s net and flicked a backhand, centering pass to Kooper Gizowski, who fired the puck into the net for his second goal of the season and a 3-1 Chiefs lead.

Luca Cagnoni got the Winterhawks back within one, 3-2, on a power-play wrister with 9:30 left, but that was it for Portland.

Spokane’s line of Streek, Gizowski and Reed Jacobson finished with six points, two apiece.

Berkly Catton, the No. 1 overall pick in the most recent WHL Prospects Draft, played in his second straight game as an affiliate player for the Chiefs. He didn’t have a shot on goal but won 4 of 10 faceoffs.

Catton and Michaluk, also an affiliate player, are eligible to play up to five games with Spokane this season and can join the Chiefs full-time next year.

“It’s very exciting to see how much we’re going to improve each game,” Michaluk said. “Every year we’re going to get better and better until we bring that (Memorial) Cup home.”

The Chiefs host the Winterhawks on Tuesday night and then end their regular-season series in Portland on Feb. 20.