Two of the hottest teams in the WHL met on Friday night in the Rose City.
Winners of six straight, and 8-2 in their last ten games, the Spokane Chiefs (31-18-4-1) made their final visit to Portland to face the Winterhawks (38-7-3-4).
When the two U.S. Division rivals get together, goals are never at a premium.
In the Moda Center, Portland left with a 4-1 win behind two goals, and an assist by Seth Jarvis.
With 40 points over his last 15 games, the 2020 NHL Draft prospect has been filling the score sheet and consistently too. Nine of those games Jarvis has three or more points — including two games with five points.
The Chiefs had their skating legs early, registering eight of the game’s first ten shots.
Joel Hofer was locked in from the start and kept Spokane off the scoreboard in the first 20 minutes, including stopping a Leif Mattson breakaway.
Kyle Gustafson, Winterhawks assistant general manager and associate coach, spoke after the game, “We didn’t like our start, were on our heels to start, kind of sleepy from the first puck drop. We hung with it and Hofer was outstanding in the first ten minutes. After getting a break and Jarvis capitalizing on an opportunity, from there we were able to settle into the game.”
After the media timeout, Portland pushed back on Spokane and was eventually rewarded for the effort.
Kade Nolan, who entered Friday with assists in three straight games, sent a slap shot to the right of Lukáš Pařík. A favorable bounce off the end wall went to Jaydon Dureau. The 18-year-old spotted Seth Jarvis for a backdoor tap-in goal.
“Kade is being simple,” Gustafson said. “He has confidence and knows he can play against first, second, third, or fourth lines. He just plays the same way every time. His puck movement is doing him well right now. Kade is able to see an option, move it, and also getting pucks through at the offensive blue line which are turning into points.”
Jarvis mentioned Nolan’s play of late as well. “He has been incredible lately. Kade has definitely helped our strong back end, now we have a lot of good defensemen back there that can get us out of any situation.”
With his 31st and 32nd goals, the Winnipeg, Manitoba, native now has six goals in his last three games.
Only one goal was scored in the first period, but the teams found the back of the net three times in the middle frame.
Rookie Jack O’Brien netted his 10th goal less than two minutes in. Jarvis kicked the puck ahead to Dureau. With his head up, the 2001-born winger found O’Brien’s stick in front of Pařík.
“Our chemistry with Jack is definitely building,” Jarvis expressed. “Dureau and me started playing together last year. Now with him coming in, he is definitely doing a good job of adjusting to the way we play and supporting us well.”
Spokane answered the goal when Jack Finley finished off a two-on-one rush with Adam Beckman. The 2020 NHL Draft eligible prospect initially passed to the Minnesota Wild prospect. The 40-goal scorer chose not to shoot but instead passed back to Finley for his 16th of the year.
The Chiefs looked to build off their momentum when they had their first power play. Instead, six Spokane skaters were caught on the ice, sending play to four-on-four.
18-year-old import defenseman Jonas Brøndberg held onto the puck just inside the blue line. Rather than dumping the puck in, the rearguard from Denmark wristed a shot into the top corner of the net.
The goal was Brøndberg’s seventh of the season.
“I got a good pass by Mason Mannek to start,” Jonas explained. “I kind of stood at the blue line and saw him put on a really good screen. It opened up the left side, and I took the chance and it went in which felt really nice.”
“That was an ubelieveable shot there,” Jarvis said with a smile. “Manny (Mason Mannek) did a great job of putting a screen on making sure Pařík didn’t see it.”
Gustafson liked what he saw from Brøndberg on the play. “He was able to get the zone and as soon as that happened he showed poise. Once he got his eyes up it looked like he was going to make a play with the puck, everything else just kid of settled back, Spokane backed off him. It is something that we have been talking to Jonas about is utilizing his shot more because he does have a sneaky good shot. You have to give Mannek a lot of credit at the net front because he did a good job with the screen.”
Spokane was 4-14-1-0 when trailing after 40 minutes of play and were unable to find a point in the standings.
As the Chiefs were looking to close the gap, Jarvis led a two-on-one rush with Dureau. Respecting the pass, Pařík gave too much of the glove side to Jarvis. In each of his last three games, the 17-year-old found the back of the net twice.
The goal resulted in another three point effort from Jarvis and 75 points in his second season in the WHL. Solid chemistry with Dureau is certainly helping Jarvis have consistent performances night in and night out.
“I think it about having fun. With Dureau and me playing together, I think that is what it is all about, speed and fun. When those two clash together good results and good things happen.”
Gustafson highlighted Dureau’s game on Friday night in addition to Seth’s. “Jaydon was really good tonight too. While Seth capitalized, those guys have a lot of chemistry right now. When they get opportunities in the offensive zone it is because they are hanging onto the pucks, spinning on guys down low, taking the puck to the net. When you look at it, they all aren’t very big guys, but they are using their speed and quickness to get a step and then take it to the net. It is breaking down opposing defenses.”
The three goal cushion was enough to send 8,064 Winterhawks fans home happy when the final horn sounded.
Portland was able to hold the WHL’s leading scorer to one assist and five shots on Friday night.
“He was definitely a focal point,” Gustafson mentioned. “He is the best player in the league with the production he has offensively. (Eli) Zummack is a great supporting cast if he isn’t the star. We just recognized that we honed in on tendencies with Beckman and Zummack. You have to give guys like Johnny (Ludvig) a lot of credit who was able to shut him down. I thought Clay Hanus had a great bounceback game from being injured. When Beckman and Zummack are on the ice they draw a lot of attention and you have to be sharp.”
Spokane heads to Tri-City to face the Americans at the Toyota Center on Saturday night. The Winterhawks have two more games left on their weekend schedule. Portland travels north to face the Everett Silvertips before returning home to battle the Moose Jaw Warriors.
With two more games in two nights, Gustafson mentioned the importance of routine. “We have a big one on Saturday, it is a big motivation game against Everett. We liked our game against them in their building last time. We thought we did a lot of good things — we outplayed them and out chanced them. So if anything, we are hungry for another opportunity against them. Three-in-three is a hard weekend and we just have to be real disciplined in our routines. I think every guy has a personal routine and they have to execute that.”
Notes:
– Lane Gilliss played in his 250th WHL game on Friday evening.
– Lukáš Pařík finished the night with 33 saves on 37 shots. Meanwhile, Joel Hofer stopped 32 Spokane shots.
– Neither team was able to score on the power play. Spokane was 0-for-2 and the Winterhawks did not convert on their three opportunities.
