WHL Playoffs: Owen Martin scores go-ahead goal late in third, Spokane Chiefs advance to WHL championship for first time since 2008

PORTLAND – The Spokane Chiefs haven’t played in a Western Hockey League finals since 2008, when they went on to win the Memorial Cup.

But that changed Thursday night.

Owen Martin scored the go-ahead goal with just more than three minutes to play and the Chiefs edged the Portland Winterhawks 6-4 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, sweeping the Western Conference championship 4-0.

The Chiefs advance to face the Medicine Hat Tigers, who swept the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference championship, winning Game 4 on Wednesday 5-3.

“It feels amazing,” Martin said. “You know, the job’s not done yet. We’ve still got one more round to win. …We’ve got a pretty confident group, so we knew we had what it took. And yeah, we showed that here.”

The Chiefs have gone from a 15-win team to playing for the league title in three seasons. Captain Berkly Catton was a rookie on the 2022-23 team that finished last in the U.S. Division. 

“You know, 15 (wins), not a great team,” Catton said. “Then just how we built and kept moving in the right direction. And now to be Western Conference champions. It shows a lot about the character in that room.”

Going through the hard times with some of the other veteran players has made even it more special for Catton, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft by the Seattle Kraken.

“I think there’s kind of a core group of guys that have gone through that, and to share (the win) with them, it’s pretty special,” he said. “Our whole team, just battling the whole year, we’ve been a very resilient team, even being down there in the final period and finding a way. So, you know, it’s a pretty special feeling, and we’re cherishing it tonight.”

“It’s a credit to every one of those kids in the room,” Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. “They embraced this challenge all year. It’s not easy, it’s tough work. But it’s enjoyable.”

As with the previous two games of the series, every time the Chiefs scored, Portland answered right back, and the Winterhawks finally took a one-goal game early in the third period. But the Chiefs pushed back each time the Winterhawks scored.

“It was one of those games again,” Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. “I thought we really came out with some urgency. I thought we played very well again. But give Portland credit. They came out in the second period and pushed and were able to get back in the game. But the character of our team found a way to get it done again in the third period.” 

With 3:11 to go, Martin made a terrific individual effort to slice through the Portland defense and flip a backhander through Winterhawks goalie Ondrej Štěbeták to make it 5-4.

After the center ice faceoff, Portland pulled its goalie to skate 6-on-5, but it was the Chiefs who scored when a broken stick sprung Shea Van Olm on a breakaway for an empty-net goal.

Coco Armstrong, who scored for the second game in a row, couldn’t remember who he hugged first at the final horn.

“I kind of, like, blacked out after the (empty net) goal,” he said.

Catton said the message was clear in the waning moments. 

“No different than any other game. Just lock it down,” he said. “And you know, if you had a chance to put it in the empty net, put in the empty net. We did that. We took our chance and ended it.”

Portland had the first quality chance of the game, getting Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan scrambling in his crease. But the puck bounced out to Andrew Cristall in the middle of the ice and he went the other way on a breakaway, beating Štěbeták to make 1-0 with his WHL-leading 19th goal of the postseason at 7:26 of the first period.

It was the eighth straight game Cristall has scored a goal.

Portland was the recipient of a lucky bounce – or two – a few minutes later. The Chiefs tried to chip it up the boards, but Tyson Jugnauth held the point and slid it to Alex Weiermair in the high slot, whose shot deflected off a couple of bodies and tumbled into the net behind Cowan to tie it.

With seven minutes left in the period, Van Olm and Portland’s Diego Buttazzoni engaged in some extracurricular activity after a play. Van Olm was whistled for slashing, while Buttazzoni received a 5-minute cross-checking major and a game misconduct.

Once the Chiefs survived a couple of scares playing 4-on-4, Cristall scored his second of the game on a pass from Ekström following an extended offensive possession. There was still 1:48 left on the 5-minute major, but the Chiefs couldn’t make good on the rest of the penalty and led 2-1 after one period.

With his 20th goal – in 15 playoff games – Cristall is one goal away from tying Jason Podollan’s franchise record of 21 in the 1996 playoffs.

Early in the second period, Štěbeták made a save of a Sam Oremba breakaway attempt. At 4:35 of the period, Oremba was whistled for hooking and Portland capitalized, as Jugnauth’s shot from the point was tipped by Ryan Miller and it sneaked past Cowan to tie it.

Saige Weinstein and Kyle Chyzowski were called for coincidental minors, hooking and embellishment, respectively, prompting 4-on-4 play, but nothing came of it.

A few minutes later. the Chiefs fourth line came entered the zone on an odd-man rush and Coco Armstrong took a drop pass from Brody Gillespie and fired it past Štěbeták for his second in as many games.

“I was in (Gillespie’s) ear. I was screaming for it,” Armstrong joked. “It would have been a good shot if he took it, but I felt he should have dropped it there and it worked out OK.”

“I heard him screaming, so I gave it to him,” Gillespie said. “Then I kind of drove their D-man back and gave him a little space.”

“It gives us a lot of confidence that (the coaches) want us out there right now so we can make plays and help the team win,” Armstrong said. 

But the Chiefs got caught in their own end for nearly two minutes and Portland – which changed skaters twice on the long possession – finally cashed in, with Weiermair flipping a wrist shot off Cowan’s mask from a sharp angle for his second of the game and 10th of the postseason.

Then with 2.1 seconds left in the period, Martin was called for tripping, setting up Portland with a power play at the start of the third.

It didn’t take long for the Winterhawks once play resumed – 24 seconds exactly – with Josh Zakreski taking a pass from Weiermair and sending a wrist shot past Cowan for his 11th goal of the playoffs. It was Portland’s first lead at home in the series.

It stayed that way until 5:47 was left in the game. Rasmus Ekström won an offensive zone draw and Saige Weinstein’s shot from the point was blocked, but the puck ended up back with Ekström in the slot. He flipped it over a screened Štěbeták for his seventh of the playoffs to tie it up.

“I thought the depth of our team, you know, not relying on our big three, which you know are very exceptional players, but the supporting cast played very well for us this series,” Lauer said.