(Spokane, WA) Game 2 between the Spokane Chiefs (1-1) and Portland Winterhawks (1-1) started with the Chiefs riding the momentum from their Game 1 victory. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Portland scored four unanswered goals in the second and third periods. The teams traded goals 21 seconds apart late in the third resulting in a Portland 5-3 win.
After a night with a combined 13 power plays, the teams played a full 60 minutes without taking a penalty. The feat was the first time in Portland’s 43 year history where no power plays for either team occurred.
Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnston said, “I give the refs some credit, they managed the game well. There wasn’t a lot going on as far as extra stuff after the whistle, so they weren’t going to clamp down. Both teams checked hard and played well defensively, but didn’t take penalties or put themselves in penalty trouble where they were going to take one. I thought the refs did a great job tonight in managing the game saying, ‘Hey, if you are going to play the game, we will let you play.’”
Spokane scored 6:19 into the game as Jaret Anderson-Dolan stole the puck from Joel Hofer behind the net. The 19-year-old then banked a shot in off Hofer for his second goal of the series.
The Chiefs generated several quality opportunities on Hofer in the second period, but the recently signed St. Louis Blues prospect made several highlight reel saves. The biggest came on Anderson-Dolan as Hofer made a glove save sliding from his right to left.
Later in the second period Cordel Larson won a battle along the wall and got the puck to Jack FInley. Finley then spotted Luc Smith in front of the net for a tap-in goal, his first of the series.
All the momentum was on the Chiefs side until Jaydon Dureau burst down the right side of the ice. The 17-year-old rookie drew two defenders towards him before sending a pass to Josh Paterson. Portland’s trade-deadline acquisition netted his first goal of the playoffs cutting the Chiefs lead to one going into the second intermission.
“It was one of those games five-on-five where your really had to work to get your open ice, open space, and a good scoring chance; they didn’t happen very often” Mike Johnston said. “So we just kept telling our guys after the second period that we have to hang in there and hang with it. It is a hard game, and we need that second effort to maybe get that extra goal.”
The Winterhawks came out with passion in the third period. They tied the game a little over eight minutes into the final frame.
Defenseman Nick Cicek drove the zone and cut to the middle before hitting Lane GIlliss in stride with a pass. The goal was Gilliss’ first career playoff goal and started the depth scoring for Portland.
Less than two minutes later Paterson found the back of the net again after a scramble in front. The line of Seth Jarvis, Dureau, and Paterson generated multiple chances all night. The Chiefs played well defensively against the Winterhawks top line.
Portland’s fourth straight goal, and third in the period, came after Kade Nolan’s shot caromed off the end boards to Mason Mannek. The Salt Lake City native banked a shot in off Bailey Brkin for his four goal against Spokane in the last two playoff series. The goal proved to be the game-winning goal.
“It has been a while for me, so that one felt good” Mannek told winterhawks.com. “In playoffs there are no individual efforts, we are a team. I think five goals, in a playoff game, on the road, that is kind of a key for us. If we can keep this going we are going to be in a good spot.”
Trailing by two the Chiefs showed they were not going to go away as Adam Beckman cut the deficit to one on his second tally of the series.
Shortly after the goal, Spokane’s head coach Dan Lambert pulled Brkin for the extra attacker trying to ride the momentum generated from the previous shift.
However, the gamble backfired as Matthew Quigley hit the empty net and restored Portland’s two-goal advantage.
For the second game in a row, Portland controlled the majority of the third period. In the final 20 minutes, the Winterhawks have outshot the Chiefs 26-8 over the two games.
The win was big for Portland as they played without Cody Glass and John Ludvig, who was suspended for Games 2 and 3 for his checking to the head penalty in Game 1.
“Everyone is super pumped” Paterson told winterhawks.com. “I mean, it is a huge comeback game after last night. It shows we can come back from anything. We know we can battle through adversity, and it was huge to get the split here. We are taking momentum back home.”
Mike Johnston was impressed with Paterson, who contributed two points on back-to-back nights in his first two career playoff games, “It is his first playoff experience since he joined the league at 16, so it is quite an incredible story where he gets into his first two playoff games and gets four [points]. He is a guy that has played solid for us since we got him, a good person, but just a real complimentary, all-around player. You can put him in different situations.”
Paterson also had a game-high seven shots on net to go with his two goals.
The series now shifts to Portland on Tuesday and Wednesday for Games 3 and 4.
Mannek is excited for the opportunity to bring the series back to Portland even, “Anytime you can change the scenery or setting, if you have a win heading into that I think it is huge. We have a couple of days off and having a win under our belt, and not having to hang over the loss for that two days is going to be big for us. [The mid-week games] are going to be huge. The good thing about playing in Portland in the mid-week is that we have a good crowd no matter what. They can really get us fired up, so it is going to be nice to be back home for sure.”
Johnston felt, “It was important to have a response from [Friday] night. I thought we played parts of the game [Friday] well, but I don’t think we played the whole game well. Then [Saturday], it was tough both sides. There were no power play opportunities as everybody saw.”
Notes:
– Portland’s top line was held to a combined two assists on the five goals. Spokane kept them to the outside as well as taking away their time and space. As a result, Johnston was pleased with how his younger forwards played, “You took at [Tyson] Kozak, his very first playoff game as a young 16-year-old kid, and I thought Haydn Delorme played well, Mannek on that line, they generated some momentum. We then bumped Mannek up and played with three lines after that, but I really liked the energy that our young guys played with; they were really, really good.”
– Defenseman John Ludvig served his first of a two-game suspension for his in Game 1. He will also miss Game 3 in Portland on Tuesday before being eligible to return on Wednesday.
– Spokane got Jack McGrew back into the lineup for Game 2 after missing Game 1. However, Luke Toporowski was scratched on Saturday.
– Chief’s defenseman Nolan Reid, who scored 17 goals in the regular season, missed Game 2. He left Game 1 early and did not play on Saturday.
