It was a night of returns and absences for the Portland Winterhawks, Saturday at Veteran Memorial Coliseum. They faced their first of what could be many games without defenseman Henri Jokiharju (Finland) and forwards Joachim Blichfeld (Denmark) and Kieffer Bellows (USA) who are all vying for roster spots on their country’s U-20 teams for the World Junior Championships in Buffalo.
Portland also got two key, third-year forwards back in the fold as Cody Glass was back after being cut from Team Canada for the WJCs and Ryan Hughes returned from a leg injury. Hughes last played back on October 10th. It was that night that a check by Rykr Cole drove his legs into the boards and caused him to miss the last two months of his season.
With Glass and Hughes back in the fold, Portland hoping to break out of their win-one, lose-one routine. That was not the case as the Spokane Chiefs rebounded from giving up two short-handed goals to the Winterhawks early and scored three straight on the power play and four in-a-row, pacing themselves to a 6-3 road win.
This one had to feel better than others around this time of year, because the Chiefs broke the five-game win streak Portland had over them to start the year. In a scheduling quirk, the two teams have played each other six times already this year. With their season series being only eight games, they do not play again until January 5th.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Eli Zummack both scored twice for the Chiefs, who were themselves without a key forward because of the World Juniors in right wing Kailer Yamamoto (USA).
Donovan Buskey has been doing his best to put into question who gets more starts whenever Dawson Weatherill returns from injury, with his recent play. Buskey followed up a strong performance vs. Everett Friday, with another one in Portland. He stopped 37 of 40 shots and only gave up one goal on the 20 shots he faced in the second, with Portland controlling the play and pressing.
The Winterhawks did jump out to an early lead on the back of two of their six total short-handed goals this year. First, Glass made a slick no-look pass to spring Alex Overhardt on a breakaway and the overage center beat Buskey on the backhand. Then Glass drew in a defender, buying space for Skyler McKenzie and his linemate put a head fake on Buskey before burying his look.
Just under two minutes later though the Chiefs responded and the goal was set up by a 15-year-old affiliate player. Jack Finley, out of Kelowna, used his big frame to shield off a Portland defender and slid a drop pass to Jeff Faith who put his shot wide. Cedric Chenier was there for the ricochet off the boards and sneaked the puck in past Portland goalie Cole Kehler.
The Chiefs would add two more power play goals in the first to take a 3-2 lead. First, Zummack tipped a shot by Ty Smith past Kehler. Then Riley Woods did the same to a shot by Nolan Reid. Just like that, Spokane had rebounded from a couple devastating goals early to take command.
The Chiefs would add yet another power play goal in the second. Their third power play goal on the night came as Jaret Anderson-Dolan drove around John Ludvig and popped the water bottle up off the top of the net with an excellent shot off the rush on Kehler.
Ty Kolle made the game a one-goal affair again with some nice hand-eye coordination. Ilijah Colina chipped the puck around a Spokane defender and threw it out front of Kolle. The puck bounced on him, but Kolle batted it out of the air and past Buskey.
After Spokane weathered some heavy pressure from Portland’s top line, they scored again to make it 5-3. A shot from the point by Tyson Helgesen was blocked down and landed near Luke Toporowski. He was able to slide the puck on Kehler and the rebound came to Zummack at Kehler’s right. Zummack put it away for his second on the night and eighth this year.
That goal would be a bit of a back-breaker for Portland as it came against the flow of the game and happened when the Hawks were playing some of their best hockey.
Portland kept up the pressure in the third, out-shooting the Chiefs 11-2, but one of those two shots would put this game away. Anderson-Dolan picked Hughes’ pocket with the Portland net empty and buried his second on the night.
That play capped off what was a frustrating return to the lineup for Hughes. He had six shots on net, but took two minor penalties and seemed frustrated.
One of the few positives Portland can take from this game was the play of one of their own 15-year-old players in Seth Jarvis. The affiliate player was called up to play while Bellows and Blcihfeld are away and did not look out of place at all. Portland’s first round bantam pick last May showcased a lot of speed and his quickness on his skates helped him draw two penalties, leading to Portland power plays.
The Hawks went 0/7 on the power play, while the Chiefs went 3/5.
Cole Kehler stopped 24 of 29 in the loss.
Both teams are back in action tomorrow with the Chiefs heading back home to host Seattle and the Winterhawks heading north to play Everett.
