Top line produces four goals, but Spokane Chiefs fall to Portland in preseason matchup

The next time the Spokane Chiefs play at the Arena, it’ll count. So Thursday’s preseason game against the Portland Winterhawks served as a final home dress rehearsal before the Western Hockey League season kicks off in earnest next week.

The visitors were not polite houseguests.

Diego Buttazzoni scored 1 minute, 23 seconds into 3-on-3 overtime, and the Winterhawks beat the Chiefs 7-6.

The Chiefs have two more road preseason games to play in Kennewick over the weekend before opening at Kamloops on Sept. 22.

“As far as the team, we’re heading in the right direction,” Chiefs coach Ryan Smith said. “We’re doing some good things and we got some kinks to work out. But I think every team is at that point right now.”

The overtime became necessary when Spokane’s Chase Bertholet won a offensive zone draw then tipped in Brayden Crampton’s shot from the point with 31/2 minutes in regulation on a power play.

“I snapped it back to Cramps (Brayden Crampton),” Bertholet said. “I saw he was about to shoot, took one step to the middle. It was a perfect shot and I did the easy work, he did the hard work.”

Bertholet and Connor Roulette both scored twice for the Chiefs. Center Berkly Catton, a potential top-5 pick in next year’s NHL draft, finished with three assists and won 13 of 16 faceoffs.

“You’ve got two 20-year-olds and arguably one of the better 17-year-olds in the country,” Smith said. “That’s the expectation. I mean, they were great…. Offensively they created, they scored. They probably should have had four or five more goals between the three of them. And that’s what they can do.”

“That’s definitely a big, big key this year, especially playing with with Berk (Berkly Catton) and Rou (Connor Roulette) these last couple of games,” Bertholet said. “I know we’re eager to score goals – we need to. But we also got to play tight in the D zone.”

Catton thinks the three players on the top line are really coming together for the start of the new season.

“It’s been really good ever since the first practice,” he said. “We’ve all been together. It’s been going really well. So we just got to keep building learning off each other….

“We have big expectations, not just from the coaches but with each other.”

Chiefs returning goalie Cooper Michaluk was sharp early, especially with a glove save during a penalty kill. But midway through the first period he made a right pad save on a long wrist shot and lost sight of the puck near the post.

Portland’s Diego Buttazzoni was able to poke the puck across the crease to Josh Zakreski, who slapped in into the wide-open goal for the game’s opening score.

The Winterhawks made it 2-0 just 3 minutes later, when a shot bounced off a defender’s backside right to Buttazzoni in the slot, who chipped it past the unsuspecting Michaluk.

Spokane halved the deficit with 3 1/2 minutes left in the stanza when Bertholet banged home a rebound from the far post.

But Portland got that one back with 23 seconds left in the period, as Marcus Nguyen potted his first of the preseason on a defensive zone turnover.

Despite the score, the Chiefs outshot Portland 21-11 in the first period.

Early in the second, Brayden Crampton made a nice play to keep the puck in the offense zone and set up a give-and-go from Catton to Roulette to make it 3-2.

But Portland answered on the next shift with Zakreski netting his second of the night.

Spokane made it a one-goal game midway through the second period on a power play goal by Carter Streek, who converted a two-on-one with Owen Martin.

Lukáš Král tied it up for the Chiefs with 6 minutes into the third, stuffing home a loose puck in the goal mouth.

Mathis Preston took a hooking penalty midway through the period and Portland made it count, as Buttazzoni’s backhander beat Michaluk with 9 1/2 minutes to go.

A minute later it was tied again, as Roulette’s snap shot from close range off a feed from Catton knotted it at 5-5.

But with just more than 4 minutes left, Carsyn Dyck’s soft wrist shot kicked off Michaluk’s left skate and slipped behind him to put Portland up 6-5.

The Chiefs play against Wenatchee on Friday and Portland on Saturday to cap the preseason. Both games are in Kennewick at the Toyota Arena.