(Spokane, WA) In a rematch of last year’s first round matchup, the Spokane Chiefs defeated the Portland Winterhawks in Game 1 of the 2019 Playoffs.
Five different Chiefs scored, and Spokane scored on three-of-five power plays, to best Portland 5-2 on Friday night.
In a game with a combined 13 power plays, it was Portland who used the man advantage first.
Unsuccessful on their first attempt, the Winterhawks however generated a significant amount of chances. “I thought our first power play might have been one of our best ones even though we didn’t score on that one” Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnston said.
Using the momentum from their first, Portland made no mistake on their second opportunity.
Jake Gricius continued his hot play on the power play as he followed up a point shot by Jared Freadrich and a redirect by Josh Paterson to get the puck by Bailey Brkin.
By the end of the first period, the Winterhawks sent 17 shots onto the net of Brkin who was strong all evening. “Certainly early in the game I really felt good about our game” Johnston said. “I thought we gave them few too many power play opportunities, and then they capitalized. We know they have a good power play, and it was a power play game.”
A key moment in the game occurred at the 19:43 mark of the first period. John Ludvig, in his first game back in the lineup due to injury, hit Ethan McIndoe up high.
The 18-year-old defenseman received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit. McIndoe had to leave the ice, but returned in the second period.
Spokane used the power play to tie the game 3:08 into the second period as 17-year-old rookie Adam Beckman found the back of the net.
The goal turned the momentum in favor of the Chiefs as they went on to score two more power-play goals in the second period.
Riley Woods and Jaret Anderson-Dolan each netted their first of the postseason. Woods used a power move to cut across the front of the net beating Joel Hofer five hole.
Anderson-Dolan received a perfect pass from New Jersey Devils prospect Ty Smith before unleashing a shot glove side for a 3-1 Chiefs lead.
The Chiefs entered the playoffs with the league’s best power play, and Spokane made Portland pay.
Trailing by two goals entering the third period, Portland looked to capitalize on their own man advantage to cut the deficit to one. Spokane did not give the Winterhawks many quality looks.
Once again, the momentum turned the way of the Chiefs as they scored two goals less than a minute a part. A fourth line shift in the Winterhawks zone resulted in a Portland turnover along the wall. Michael King found Kaden Hanas who not only scored his first playoff goal, but his first WHL goal of his career.
Ethan McIndoe, with Eli Zummack behind the Portland net, found a hole in the Winterhawks defensive zone coverage. Zummack’s pass landed right on his tape, and the 1999-born forward gave the Chiefs the 5-1 lead.
The night finished with Joachim Blichfeld scoring on a five-on-three power play with 57 seconds left in the game.
The two teams play again on Saturday night for game two. Johnston said in preparation for Saturday, “We want to regroup, take what we did well from tonight’s game, and then learn from the things we can improve in; there are several areas. Again, I liked a lot of our game tonight. We had 36 shots, and I think they had 22. If we can keep them to that, and we can get that many shots, we will be fine tomorrow.”
Notes:
– Portland’s Cody Glass was scratched and will not play on Saturday either. He has not been ruled out for the series. He is listed as day-to-day.
– Spokane played without 19-year-old Jake McGrew. The California native scored 31 goals for the Chiefs during the regular season.
– Nolan Reid appeared to leave the game in the first period and did not return.
