SPOKANE, Wash. — The Chiefs ended November just a game under .500 and coming off a tough 2-0 loss to the top team in the East in Saskatoon. Spokane was playing well, having won 2 of 3 and 3 of their last 6 coming into December. The club had moved past Seattle into 5th in the U.S. Division and looked to be making a move up the Western Conference as well.
Then December came, and the good vibes built up over the first two months of the season gave way to the team's longest losing streak of the campaign. The schedule was very difficult as the Chiefs faced two of the top 10 clubs in the entire Canadian Hockey League in Prince George and Wenatchee, Portland, who started the season #1 in the polls, as well as Vancouver, a team that has won all three meetings against Spokane this season.
It's been a gauntlet for the Chiefs and the record shows it, as the team came into the last week of the first half of the season on a five game losing streak and had fallen into last in the U.S. Division. The 5th loss was the toughest as Spokane coughed up a 3-1 third period lead against a depleted Wenatchee team without their top two forwards the previous Sunday on home ice. Now the Chiefs hoped to move back past Seattle in the standings when Spokane hosted the Thunderbirds to begin the final week of the first half.
Seattle was just one point ahead of Spokane for 5th in the division so a Chiefs victory would not only snap the losing skein, but also put Spokane back in 5th ahead of the T-Birds. Seattle was coming off a 7-2 loss at Portland last weekend and had dropped 3 straight entering Wednesday's tilt at the Spokane Arena. The two clubs had split the first two encounters this year, with the road team winning each time.
Spokane was still a bit shorthanded as they were without defenseman Brayden Crampton and forwards Owen Martin and Cole Wadsworth, all due to injury. Seattle was a bit shorthanded themselves as they had two players, including starting goalie Scott Ratzlaff, off at the World Junior Tournament. The Thunderbirds seemed to be a full strength in Wednesday's game as they would come out and score two power play goals in 3 tries, including one with just 3 seconds remaining, to jump out to an early 2-0 lead after the first.
Seattle's penalty kill was just as effective as they denied all 4 Chiefs power play opportunities in the first. Spokane would cut the lead in half just 1:52 into the second when Berkly Catton scored his team leading 20th of the year to bring the Chiefs within 2-1. Seattle countered with their 3rd power play goal of the night late in the period though as they went back up by two at 3-1. Spokane got a huge goal with just 38 seconds left in the stanza when Saige Weinstein scored his second of the year to bring the Chiefs within 3-2 after two.
The Thunderbirds struck on the power play again in the third, scoring their 4th man advantage tally of the night just 1:59 into the final frame to go up 4-2. Hayden Paupanekis rallied the Chiefs with his 5th of the season at 15:39 to get Spokane back to a 4-3 contest, but Seattle took advantage of a missed penalty call that saw the Chiefs give up a breakaway in the final 2 minutes and lead to the clinching goal for the Thunderbirds in a 5-3 victory.
Special teams were the story in this one as Seattle went a season best 4-6 on the power play while the Chiefs were 0-6 with their man advantage. Spokane was outshot 43-41 including a 31-26 margin in the first two periods. The Chiefs trailed the entire game and with the loss fell 3 points back of the T-Birds for 5th in the division. The schedule wasn't going to get any easier either as the Chiefs took on third place Portland in a home and home over the weekend before Spokane headed to the holiday break.
Portland had moved within 3 points of first place Wenatchee with a convincing 7-2 win over the Wild on Wednesday in Portland. The Hawks were now on a roll, winning 4 straight, including an 8-5 win over Spokane the previous Friday in Portland. Friday's game in Spokane was the Winterhawks first trip to Eastern Washington. The Chiefs had split 4 games in Spokane vs. the Hawks last year, so the team knew they could have success against Portland at home.
Friday's game would turn into an entertaining game for the fans as a wild west shootout started early. Spokane would ruin Portland's first power play chance of the night as Berkly Catton scored short handed just 1:52 into the game to give the Chiefs a 1-0 edge. The Winterhawks would even the contest at 1-1 on James Stefan's backhander at 8:04 and took a 2-1 lead to the intermission just over 4 minutes later. The Chiefs had a chance to even the game on a power play early in the second, but the Hawks took a two goal lead on a short handed goal of their own 3.5 minutes into the second to take a 3-1 lead.
Spokane countered just over 2 minutes later when Ty Cheveldayoff scored off a perfect net front feed from Ben Bonni to bring the Chiefs within 3-2, Portland then got a power play in the final minute and a half of the frame, but Catton scored his second short handed goal of the night with just 3.5 seconds left to bring the Chiefs even at 3-3 going to the final period. Shots were 26-23 Portland after two and both teams were 0-5 on the power play. The game was almost as tight as the last two teams meeting the previous Sunday in Portland.
Heading to the third, Spokane would take the lead since the game's opening goal when Connor Roulette scored on a backhand midway through the period to put the Chiefs up 4-3. That lead held until the 17:03 mark when Portland converted the only power play of the frame after the Chiefs Berkly Catton was called for a delay of game penalty off a face off at center ice for closing his hand on the puck. The power play tally evened the game at 4, but for only 24 seconds as Brayden Crampton, back in the lineup after an injury had sidelined him the previous weekend, scored from the blue line with just 2.5 minutes remaining to put the Chiefs back ahead 5-4.
Back would come Portland though, as Josh Davies scored off Chiefs goalie Cooper Michaluk with 1:26 left to bring the Winterhawks back to a 5-5 tie and send the game to overtime. In the OT, Portland dominated the possession as they got off 4 of the 5 shots in the extra stanza and would complete the comeback as James Stefan scored his second goal of the night, and 5th in his last two games against the Chiefs, with the game winner in overtime at 1:26 in to give Portland a 6-5 victory. It was Portland's 5th straight while the Chiefs losing skein went to a season high 7 in a row. Spokane now had one last chance to snap the unpleasant streak as the two teams headed back to Portland the next evening.
Saturday's contest was the 4th between the two clubs in the last 3 weeks. The Chiefs were 3 points back of 5th place Seattle in the division and 2 points up on last place Kamloops in the Western Conference playoff race. The last thing Spokane wanted to do heading into the 10 day holiday break was go in on an 8 game losing streak and have that hanging over them. The Chiefs were certainly hoping to get back to playing the type of game they had exhibited against Portland in the two teams first meeting back on November 26th, when Spokane contained the Hawks offense in a 5-2 victory. Goalie Dawson Cowan got the win with 34 saves, as well as a goal and an assist in that triumph and was hoping for more of the same Saturday.
Spokane would get off to a quick start in the contest as they would score on their first power play attempt when Connor Roulette scored his 21st of the season on the Chiefs first power play attempt of the game 3:54 into the tirst period to make it 1-0 Chiefs. It was Roulette's 4th goal in 4 games against the Winterhawks and Spokane would carry that 1-0 lead to the second. Chase Bertholet would score off a rebound flurry 4:25 into the second to expand the Chiefs lead to 2-0. Portland would come right back and score 26 seconds later to cut Spokane's lead to 2-1. Both teams would have goals waved off later in the period due to goalie interference on Spokane and a net off the post negating a goal for Portland.
The Chiefs would dominate the second as they out shot Portland 24-7 in the period. Their offensive pressure would be rewarded with just under 5 minutes left in the period as Hayden Paupanekis stole the puck in the offensive zone and snapped home his 6th goal of the year at 15:17 to put Spokane up 3-1 after two. The Chiefs appeared to take a 4-1 lead in the third when Coco Armstrong rebounded a Cam Parr shot, but after a review, the goal was overturned. Cowan would save his best goaltending for the third as he turned aside all 19 Winterhawks shots he saw in the third and the Chiefs ended their 7 game losing streak and snapped Portland's 5 game win streak with a 3-1 victory.
It was a much needed win for Spokane as they headed to the 10 day holiday break just one point back of 5th place Seattle in the U.S. Division after the Thunderbirds lost at Everett. Now the Chiefs will get a chance to rest up and heal and get ready for a backloaded 2nd half of the schedule. Spokane played 30 of their 68 games in the first half and will now be looking at 38 games between December 27th and March 23rd. The Chiefs will return on the 27th to host Wenatchee and then entertain Tri City on the 30th before heading to the Tri Cities for the annual New Year's Eve tilt on the 31st. I'll have the call on 103.5 FM the Game and 1510 AM KGA for all 3 contests. Wednesday's game will start at 7:05 pm, while Saturday and Sunday's games will be at 6:05 pm. The pre-game shows will be a half hour prior to puck drop. A very Merry Christmas to all of you and we hope to see you at the rink after the break!
