On Friday night, the Portland Winterhawks (11-5-1-1) played host to the U.S. Division rival Spokane Chiefs (9-7-2-0). Both teams were without two of their top players. But both the Chiefs and Winterhawks received scoring from their depth. Jack Finley scored with 1:17 left to force overtime and then again 4:05 into the extra session. His fourth and fifth goals of the season gave Spokane the 4-3 victory.
Ty Smith and Adam Beckman were scratched for the Chiefs after representing Team WHL in the CIBC Canada/Russia Series on Wednesday and Thursday. Team WHL teammate Joel Hofer started for Portland. However, the Winterhawks were without Robbie Fromm-Delorme and Simon Knak.
Portland also saw their leading scorer, Seth Jarvis, leave the game around ten minutes into the first period. Jarvis took a check, left the ice and did not return to the game.
Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnston did not have much of an update postgame. “I only saw him briefly here. I haven’t gone to the other side to see how many guys are banged up or what happened.”
Spokane led 2-1 after the first period on goals by Erik Atchison and Eli Zummack. Jordan Chudley assisted on Zummack’s sixth goal of the 2019-2020 season.
Manny Viveiros, Spokane’s head coach, talked about how his depth scoring came through with Smith and Beckman out of the lineup. “We need secondary scoring from guys and they all chipped in in some capacity which was really good. I’m really happy for those kids.”
Portland pushed back in the second period with goals by Kishaun Gervais — his first in the WHL — and Lane Gilliss.
While he was disappointed with the final result, Gervais spoke about lighting the lamp for the first time. “It was definitely special, a feeling I will never forget for sure. Huge credit to my linemates with Mason driving to the net and Lane made an unbelievable pass. I was just able to tap it in. Huge credit to them. Something I will never forget.”
Gilliss was moved to the top power-play unit after Jarvis left. The decision by Johnston proved to be the right one. “Without Jarvis on that unit, we decided to go with Gilliss there. He is really good at the net. He gives us two guys that are real flexible at the net.”
Johnston feels, “Lane has had a good solid year overall, just sometimes doesn’t get the points. Some people look at him and wonder what offensively he can do, but he plays both ends of the rink, he plays well on the wall, kills penalties, he is on the power play. He is a real versatile guy who can play the wing or center.”
The overage forward registered his first three-point night in his career.
“We have had some injuries, so Lane is playing big minutes now,” Winterhawks captain Johnny Ludvig said. “He is really stepping up to the challenge and is doing a great job for us.”
With a 3-2 lead heading into the final period, Portland looked to close out the victory at home over the team they’ve faced in the first round of the WHL playoffs the last two seasons.
Viveiros called his goaltender, Lukáš Pařík, to the bench with 2:09 left in the game.
Trailing by a goal, and a faceoff in the Portland zone, Manny called his timeout and drew up a play. The Chiefs executed the plan to perfection as Finley found a loose puck near the top of the crease.
In overtime, despite Portland having the majority of the possession, the Chiefs kept Portland to the perimeter. Zummack entered the zone and sent a perfect pass for Finley to one-time by Joel Hofer. The assist was Zummack’s third point of the night as well.
“Eli has a little bite to his game right now, which I really like,” Viveiros commented. “When he plays with a little bit of fire like that, he is an effective hockey player. It is a real positive coming into a tough building. I think Portland is always tough. I’m really happy with his effort.”
Overall, despite falling in overtime, Mike Johnston felt his team still played well. “I thought we had a good game overall. If you take a look at it, other than getting scored on late like that, that was the only disappointment in the game. We are usually pretty good late in games — we’ve sealed a lot of them. I think tonight our first period was kind of even, then in the second period we dominated, in the third I thought it was even again. We had the chances at 5-5 in the third. That is a typical one-goal game.”
For Viveiros, he described the Chiefs performance. “I thought we played well. Portland really came after us in the second period and our goaltender kept us in the game. We knew that, coming into this building, that they have a lot of skill level, lot of speed. We bent and didn’t break which was good, just hung in there and scored goals at the right of the time. I was happy with the effort tonight, especially when we have a couple of big guys out of the lineup as far as Ty Smith and Adam Beckman.”
Portland and Spokane each have a three-in-three this weekend. The Winterhawks travel north on I-5 to face fellow U.S. Division rival Seattle before closing out the weekend at home against Winnipeg. Meanwhile, Spokane completes three road games in as many nights with Tri-City on Saturday and Everett on Sunday.
Notes:
– Simon Knak missed the game due to injury, but Mike Johnston did not offer any indication on the nature of the injury nor the length of time the Switzerland import will miss.
– Eli Zummack’s strong performance on Friday resulted in him reaching 150 points in his career.
– With another perfect night on the penalty kill, Portland is now 42-of-44 while shorthanded. During this stretch, they also have two goals while down a man.
