Winterhawks able to pull away from Chiefs in third period
The Spokane Chiefs stuck with the red-hot Portland Winterhawks better than they had through most of their matchups so far this season.
But the Winterhawks got a key shorthanded goal in the second period and tacked on two more in the third to win 4-2 at Spokane Arena, their ninth victory in 11 games against Spokane this season.
It marked the last of five consecutive games between the two Western Hockey League clubs. Portland won four of them and outscored Spokane 30-9.
Overall, the Winterhawks won for the 18th time in 20 games; their lone regulation loss over that stretch came Saturday when the Chiefs beat them 3-2.
Taylor Gauthier – who didn’t play Saturday – stopped 26 shots and improved to 11-0-0-0 since the Winterhawks acquired him from Prince George on Dec. 27.
Goalie Cooper Michaluk, making his second consecutive start for the Chiefs as an affiliate player, made 35 saves. Jake Gudelj scored his first WHL goal with 11 seconds left in the third period.
The Chiefs lost for the second time in three games since Ryan Smith was promoted from associate to head coach, replacing Adam Maglio, who was fired last week.
Spokane (13-28-3-1) remained in ninth place in the Western Conference, one point behind the Tri-City Americans (13-27-5-0). The Chiefs and Americans are scheduled to play five more times this season.
Portland (30-12-3-2) trails the first-place Everett Silvertips by seven points in the U.S. Division standings.
The Winterhawks scored first when Jonah Bevington backhanded a pass from behind the Chiefs’ net to Kyle Chyzowski, who beat Michaluk for his ninth goal of the season.
But the Chiefs made the most of an early scoring chance in the second period. Just under four minutes in, Raegan Wiles skated from his zone into the Winterhawks’ with the puck and, from the right circle, fired a shot across Gauthier and past his glove to even the game at 1. It was Wiles’ sixth of the season, second-most among the team’s defensemen.
The tie didn’t last long, though. Six minutes later, Marcus Nguyen scored shorthanded – his 12th goal of the season – to give the Winterhawks the lead again, 2-1. It was just the third shorthanded goal of the year for Portland, second-fewest in the WHL, but the eighth given up by the Chiefs (fifth-most in the league).
In the third period, the Winterhawks extended their lead with goals by NHL draft picks Tyson Kozak (his 24th of the year) and Clay Hanus (12th).
Portland outshot Spokane 14-9 in the first period and 17-8 in the second, but Spokane had an 11-8 advantage in the third. It marked the only period during this five-game stretch with Portland where the Chiefs had more shots than the Winterhawks.
The two teams are scheduled to play just once more this Western Hockey League regular season, on Sunday, as the last of a three-games-in-three days stretch for the Chiefs this weekend.