WHL Playoffs: Chase Harrington scores winner in overtime, Spokane Chiefs take 2-0 lead over Portland with Game 2 6-5 win

The thing about having an offensively oriented hockey team is that you’re never out of a game. Unfortunately, that often means the other team isn’t either.

The Spokane Chiefs created, then squandered, a two-goal , third -period lead on Sunday, ending up in overtime for the fourth time this postseason. Like the previous three games, the Chiefs ultimately found a way to get the win.

And it was a sometimes -overlooked hero who got the job done.

Chase Harrington scored off a turnover 2 minutes, 25 seconds into overtime and the Chiefs edged the Portland Winterhawks 6-5 to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Hockey League Western Conference best-of-seven final at the Arena on Sunday.

“It was crazy. It kind of didn’t even feel real,” Harrington said. “I was able to get it off quickly. I didn’t even really know it went in. I just saw everyone jump off the bench, rushing towards (me). So, I was pretty happy.”

Andrew Cristall increased his league-leading playoff goal total to 17 with a hat trick, and power forward Assanali Sarkenov added two goals and an assist.

The series shifts to Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum for Games 3, 4 and 5, if necessary. The Chiefs felt it critical to nail down the two home games before hitting the road.

“It forces (Portland), if everything does go wrong, to have to come back and beat us here at home,” Cristall said. “And you know, we really like to play here.”

“That’s a big win for us today,” defenseman Nathan Mayes said. “Having two at home is a good, good start. We just have to bring that momentum into Portland for us.”

Chiefs coach Brad Lauer has seen his high-powered offense erase a lot of mistakes but also contribute their share.

“I wouldn’t say that was our best game by any means,” Lauer said. “Obviously, (Portland) came out a lot harder. They had something that they wanted to do. … We let them back in the game, but sometimes you got to win ugly, and you got to find ways to do it.”

“We got off to a really good start, and a two-goal lead in the third period is something that, you know, we shouldn’t really blow and let them get back in the game,” Cristall said. “But, you know, (Portland is) a really good offensive team, and they’re here for a reason.”

Overtime had barely started when Harrington collected a loose puck at the Portland blue line, circled to get it on his forehand, then whipped it past Winterhawks goalie Ondrej Štěbeták high-glove side. It was Harrington’s fifth goal of the playoffs, following 19 in the regular season for the 2022 first-round pick.

“I kind of saw a little turnover from them, bounced on it, and tried to get it off quick and over his shoulder,” Harrington said.

While the “Big 3” of Cristall, Berkly Catton and Shea Van Olm garners most of the attention, Harrington is part of the depth this team has been relying on during their postseason run.

“I try to just play my role with the secondary scoring and some penalty kill, trying to shut the other team down. … We’re all pitching in together. We’re cheering for each other. There’s no selfishness in the room.”

The game was tied 3-all entering the third period and a little more than a minute in, the Chiefs caught a big break. Štěbeták made a routine save but then misplayed the puck, leaving it unattended in the crease.

Sam Oremba chipped it to Owen Martin, who tapped it to Cristall who flicked it past the scrambling goalie for his league-leading 17th goal of the season, completing a hat trick.

“It was a good forecheck from (Oremba), and we kind of got the puck back,” Cristall said. “He found me backdoor, right on my tape, and I just kind of just put it up in the air, and luckily it went in.”

The Chiefs withstood a couple of quality chances by the Winterhawks, then capitalized again. Owen Schoettler sent a long pass down the right-wing boards to Owen Martin, who tipped it to Sarkenov cruising in from the blue line. Sarkenov had time to settle the pass then whip it past Štěbeták for his second of the game and sixth of the playoffs to make it 5-3.

Portland didn’t roll over, and they erased the two-goal cushion in short order.

Three minutes after the Sarkenov goal, defenseman Max Pšenička’s lobbed one from the point that slipped past Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan for his first of the playoffs. Two minutes later, Kyle Chyzowksi’s one-timer from the right-wing dot beat Cowan top shelf and it was tied with 5:25 remaining.

Neither team found another quality chance and they headed to overtime.

Portland earned a power play less than a minute into the game when Brayden Crampton tripped Diego Buttazzoni in the neutral zone. The Winterhawks cashed in quickly, with Buttazzoni firing a one-timer from Alex Weiermair past Cowan from the right-wing circle for his 12th goal of the playoffs.

The Chiefs tied it 71/2 minutes into the first. Mayes collected a loose puck in the offensive zone and sent it on net, where it got tangled up in a maze of bodies and eventually was pushed into the net. After a lengthy review, the goal stood and was awarded to Sarkenov, who ended up in the goal himself, for his fifth of the playoffs.

Portland scored on a 3-on-2 rush a couple of minutes later as all three Chiefs forwards on the top line got caught up ice. Josh Zakreski tapped in a Buttazzoni rebound as Cowan was drawn out of position making the original save.

The Chiefs got good pressure on four consecutive shifts closing out the period but couldn’t find the equalizer and trailed after one.

Cristall hit the post and fed Berkly Catton for a close-in backhand attempt on the first shift of the second.

But Lauer switched lines up a little later in the period and it paid off. Cristall, skating with Rasmus Ekström and Sam Oremba, hit a long-range shot through traffic off a pass from Mayes for his league-leading 15th goal of the playoffs.

“Nothing seemed to be working,” Lauer said. “We’ve made a couple changes later in the year and we found a way to get things done. I thought maybe a tweak here or there would get something going again.”

But it didn’t stay tied long. The Chiefs had a good look in the Portland zone, but Crampton got caught in above the blue line and the Winterhawks countered with a two-on-one. Ryan Miller converted a pass from Joel Plante for his third of the playoffs and a 3-2 lead.

A few minutes later the Chiefs got their first power play of the game, and they didn’t let it go to waste. Saige Weinstein sent the puck below the goal line where it was collected by Catton. He found Cristall cutting to the net and the league’s regular season scoring leader buried it for his second of the game.

With the assist, Catton tied Jason Podollan for the most points by a Chiefs player during a playoff run with 33.

“We did some things tonight that is out of character for us, some of the mistakes we were making and the plays we were doing and decisions we made,” Lauer said. “But you know, it is junior hockey. Sometimes it happens. And the biggest thing is that we stuck with it. We found a way to get it done.”