Chiefs Earn 2nd Win of Pre-Season with 3-2 Decision Over Portland
A pair of goals 51-seconds apart in the second period lifted the Spokane Chiefs to a 3-2 win over the Portland Winterhawks on Saturday afternoon in their second pre-season game of the year. Spokane is now 2-0 in the pre-season following a victory on Friday over Seattle.
The Chiefs scored first when Hayden Paupanekis took a Will McIsaac pass at the Portland blueline and snapped home his first of the pre-season. Shea Van Olm started the play from the Spokane end and moved it up to McIsaac, who tapped the puck to the second year forward. Paupanekis finished it with a snapshot from the slot.
Portland’s first goal came from Alex Thompson when he evened the score with 20-seconds remaining in the first.
A 13-7 shot advantage in the second resulted in the quick goals by Cohen Harris at 15:53 (unassisted) and Coco Armstrong, at 16:44, from McIsaac and Owen Martin.
Harris, a 3rd round pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, scored for the first time in a Chiefs’ sweater. His blocked shot at the point resulted in a race, won by Harris, in the neutral zone. He broke in alone on Portland netminder Marek Schlenker and used a wrist shot to put it home.
Armstong, standing at the top of the crease, accepted a one-touch pass by McIsaac from the side of the net for a half-swing one-timer that resulted in the 17-year-old’s first of the pre-season.
Cooper Michaluk started for the Chiefs and played the first two periods. He stopped 15 of 16 attempts. Carter Esler, a 16-year-old rookie, played the final 20-minutes and stopped 11 of 12 shots.
Portland’s last goal came with 3:07 remaining by Kayd Reudig.
Schlenker played the last half of the game for the Winterhawks and made 21 saves on 23 shots. Ondrej Stebetak was 12-13 in 31:23 in the starting role.
The Chiefs will finish their pre-season schedule with three games next week including a home game on Thursday versus the Winterhawks at Eastern Washington University’s Rec Center. Gametime is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
