Dominik Petr, Chase Harrington score twice; Spokane Chiefs down Portland 6-2

PORTLAND, Ore. – Last season the Spokane Chiefs swept the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Conference finals. Both teams’ fortunes have changed though, as they now find themselves in a battle for one of the last playoff berths from the conference.

Entering Monday’s matinee, Portland was in a tie for the seventh and eighth playoff spots – one point ahead of the Chiefs. Five points separated ninth from fourth place in the conference.

As Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said after Saturday’s come-from-ahead home loss to Moose Jaw, “Every game is a playoff game for us the rest of the way.”

An offensive outburst on Monday allowed the Chiefs to claim a playoff spot at least for the day.

Dominik Petr and Chase Harrington scored two goals apiece and the Chiefs beat the Winterhawks 6-2 in a Western Hockey League U.S. Division game at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Petr and Harrington scored twice in the span of 2 minutes, 11 seconds in the early stages of the first period to give the Chiefs (22-20-1-0, 45 points) a quick 2-0 lead.

Petr was credited with his second of the game a few minutes later when Nathan Mayes’ shot from the point deflected off two players then hit Petr in the face and went into the goal.

Coco Armstrong made it 4-0 just 66 seconds later with his 15th goal of the season, and Harrington scored his second of the game and 17th of the season unassisted off a turnover exactly one minute after that.

Kyle McDonough got Portland on the board with a little more than three minutes to play in the second, and Max Pšenička scored 35 seconds into the third to make it 5-2.

The Winterhawks (21-22-2-0, 44 points) pulled their goalie in favor of an extra skater with 4:55 to go, but before they could enter the Chiefs zone Tyus Sparks stole the puck and scored from center ice to make it 6-2.

The Chiefs are off until Friday when they take on the expansion Penticton Vees on the road at 7 p.m.