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May 1—PORTLAND — The Spokane Chiefs brought a 2-0 lead with them to Portland's Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the middle games of the seven-game Western Conference Championship, putting the onus on the Winterhawks to hold serve in their historic barn.
But a three-goal barrage by the visitor at the start of the third period put the Chiefs on the brink of playing for a title.
After a see-saw game filled with offensive fireworks — and little by the way of defense on either side — Coco Armstrong scored his first goal of the playoffs early in the third period to put the Chiefs up for good in an 8-5 win over the Winterhawks on Wednesday, giving them a chance to close out the series in Game 4 on Thursday.
Mathis Preston and Assanali Sarkenov added goals in the first eight minutes of the third to provide enough cushion for the win.
The Chiefs never trailed, but every time they scored the Winterhawks answered until the third-period flurry.
"No leads seem safe with us right now," Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. "We've got to find ways to shut things down as a group when we start getting leads. But you know, Coco's goal was huge for us."
"It seems like both teams play a certain style that they want to open it up," Winterhawks coach Kyle Gustafson said. "We were just a little too loose with the puck that gave (Spokane) more chances than we wanted."
Armstrong, who plays on the Chiefs checking line with Brody Gillespie and Cam Parr, had just seven goals in the regular season.
"It felt good to get that (first goal) out of the way," Armstrong said.
On a night when the Chiefs top line of Berkly Catton, Andrew Cristall and Shea Van Olm had more penalties than goals, it was depth scoring that proved to be the difference, with Armstrong, Chase Harrington, Owen Martin and defenseman Will McIsaac all scoring goals. McIsaac had a career night with a goal and three assists, as did Preston.
"We can't just rely on our top three all the time," Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. "We've talked about this all year. We're not a one-man, one-line team. When our best guys aren't our best guys, we have other guys that step up in key moments."
"They're so good," Gustafson said of the Chiefs' top line. "They're going to get their looks. They're going to get their chances. We just want to minimize the threat."
After taking a 3-0 series lead, the trick now is to bring appropriate intensity for Game 4 — but not come in over-amped.
"It's hard not to, if I'm gonna be honest," the 17-year-old Preston said. "You know, we're up 3-0 and almost to the Western League final. So, you try your best not to look at it, but obviously your focus is somewhat there, a bit. Our focus just has to be on the next one. We've two more games here in Portland to close it out."
"We can't take (Portland) lightly, but we know we can beat them," Armstrong said. "So, I think if we just play our best like usual, we'll have a good turnout."
"We've just got to keep them grounded," Lauer said. "They've got to embrace the opportunity... We'll enjoy what we did tonight, but (Thursday) we'll refocus, learn from our mistakes and hopefully get better."
The Chiefs led 5-4 entering the third, but Portland tied it up 2:47 into the period when Josh Zakreski beat Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan with a wrist shot for his second goal of the game.
"I think after they tied it up there, just everyone on the bench took a deep breath there, kind of settled down," McIsaac said. "We don't want to let our emotions get the best of us out there."
It didn't stay tied long, as Armstrong collected a rebound in close, put it on his forehand and snapped it past Winterhawks goalie Ondrej Štěbeták for his first goal of the postseason 81 seconds later to make it 6-5.
"I just knew (our line) needed a big push on our shift," Armstrong said. "We don't get too many minutes, so we just got in deep and there was a lucky bounce and just finished it there."
"Key moments of the game in the third period, you have your fourth line on the ice," Lauer said. "We want to establish a forecheck, and do the things you want them to do, create some energy for our group, and then they score a big goal. That really lifted our bench."
Preston made it a two-goal game less than two minutes later as he went unmarked just outside the crease and banged home a rebound from Martin for his eighth of the playoffs.
"I think depth in the playoffs is super important," Preston, who also had three assists, said. "I think throughout the playoffs we've had everyone contribute, from the top all the way to the bottom."
The advantage reached three with 11:49 to go, with Assanali Sarkenov registering his seventh of the playoffs and fifth in the past three games with a snap shot from the wing.
"We've been working on playing with leads all year, and playing the game the right way, and not giving them chances and opportunities to sneak back into the game," Preston said. "Obviously, it was a back-and-forth game, but we closed it out. (Portland is) a good team, and they're never gonna go away — they're kind of pesty like that."
Portland received the game's first power play when Van Olm was called for goaltender interference at 8:04 of the first period, but nothing came of it.
Two shifts later, the Chiefs got on the board. McIsaac's shot from the high slot was knocked down in front, but it went to Game 3 overtime hero Harrington on the far post, and he dumped it into a wide-open net for his sixth of the playoffs.
The Chiefs' opponents had scored first in 10 of the previous 13 playoff games this season.
The Chiefs took their second minor penalty of the period a few moments later, with Cristall sent off for tripping in the offensive zone. This time, Portland made good with the extra skater.
Tyson Jugnauth's shot from the high slot was deflected by Zakreski and it slipped between Cowan and the near post for his ninth of the postseason to even it at 1-1.
Late in the period Catton won an offensive zone draw back to McIsaac, who sent it over to Nathan Mayes. His blast from the high slot was tipped by Catton on the way through and got past Štěbeták and the Chiefs led 2-1 after one period.
Early in the second, Catton was called for holding an opponent's stick in the offensive zone and Portland cashed it in, with Buttazzoni sliding to his right and firing back against his body, beating Cowan stick-side to knot it up.
Spokane answered again with a power play goal from the second unit, as Martin gathered a redirected shot and beat the out-of-position Štěbeták for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
The Chiefs made it 4-2 when Preston entered the Portland zone with speed, then delayed and dished to McIsaac, who sent a wrister past Štěbeták for his first goal of the postseason and third point of the game.
"It was just kind of right place at the right time, almost, just being confident," McIsaac said. "I saw a little bit of an opening to go down the strong side there. And I was trying to just almost put it off his pad, but it got up a little high on me. So, I mean, it worked out in my favor."
But Buttazzoni scored his second of the game less than a minute later to make it a one-goal game again.
The teams took matching roughing penalties late in the period prompting 4-on-4 hockey for two minutes — and both took advantage of the big ice.
Portland turned it over in the neutral zone and Catton, Brayden Crampton and Cristall played tic-tac-toe, with Cristall putting it into a yawning net for his WHL-leading 18th of the postseason and a 5-3 lead with 1:09 left in the period.
But again, the Winterhawks responded quickly, as Joel Plante scored 26 seconds later to make it 5-4 entering the third.
Medicine Hat advances: Gavin McKenna had a goal and an assist and the Tigers beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-3 to sweep the Eastern Conference finals and advance to the WHL championships. Mathew Ward scored twice for Medicine Hat, his fourth and fifth of the playoffs.
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But a three-goal barrage by the visitor at the start of the third period put the Chiefs on the brink of playing for a title.
After a see-saw game filled with offensive fireworks — and little by the way of defense on either side — Coco Armstrong scored his first goal of the playoffs early in the third period to put the Chiefs up for good in an 8-5 win over the Winterhawks on Wednesday, giving them a chance to close out the series in Game 4 on Thursday.
Mathis Preston and Assanali Sarkenov added goals in the first eight minutes of the third to provide enough cushion for the win.
The Chiefs never trailed, but every time they scored the Winterhawks answered until the third-period flurry.
"No leads seem safe with us right now," Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. "We've got to find ways to shut things down as a group when we start getting leads. But you know, Coco's goal was huge for us."
"It seems like both teams play a certain style that they want to open it up," Winterhawks coach Kyle Gustafson said. "We were just a little too loose with the puck that gave (Spokane) more chances than we wanted."
Armstrong, who plays on the Chiefs checking line with Brody Gillespie and Cam Parr, had just seven goals in the regular season.
"It felt good to get that (first goal) out of the way," Armstrong said.
On a night when the Chiefs top line of Berkly Catton, Andrew Cristall and Shea Van Olm had more penalties than goals, it was depth scoring that proved to be the difference, with Armstrong, Chase Harrington, Owen Martin and defenseman Will McIsaac all scoring goals. McIsaac had a career night with a goal and three assists, as did Preston.
"We can't just rely on our top three all the time," Chiefs coach Brad Lauer said. "We've talked about this all year. We're not a one-man, one-line team. When our best guys aren't our best guys, we have other guys that step up in key moments."
"They're so good," Gustafson said of the Chiefs' top line. "They're going to get their looks. They're going to get their chances. We just want to minimize the threat."
After taking a 3-0 series lead, the trick now is to bring appropriate intensity for Game 4 — but not come in over-amped.
"It's hard not to, if I'm gonna be honest," the 17-year-old Preston said. "You know, we're up 3-0 and almost to the Western League final. So, you try your best not to look at it, but obviously your focus is somewhat there, a bit. Our focus just has to be on the next one. We've two more games here in Portland to close it out."
"We can't take (Portland) lightly, but we know we can beat them," Armstrong said. "So, I think if we just play our best like usual, we'll have a good turnout."
"We've just got to keep them grounded," Lauer said. "They've got to embrace the opportunity... We'll enjoy what we did tonight, but (Thursday) we'll refocus, learn from our mistakes and hopefully get better."
The Chiefs led 5-4 entering the third, but Portland tied it up 2:47 into the period when Josh Zakreski beat Chiefs goalie Dawson Cowan with a wrist shot for his second goal of the game.
"I think after they tied it up there, just everyone on the bench took a deep breath there, kind of settled down," McIsaac said. "We don't want to let our emotions get the best of us out there."
It didn't stay tied long, as Armstrong collected a rebound in close, put it on his forehand and snapped it past Winterhawks goalie Ondrej Štěbeták for his first goal of the postseason 81 seconds later to make it 6-5.
"I just knew (our line) needed a big push on our shift," Armstrong said. "We don't get too many minutes, so we just got in deep and there was a lucky bounce and just finished it there."
"Key moments of the game in the third period, you have your fourth line on the ice," Lauer said. "We want to establish a forecheck, and do the things you want them to do, create some energy for our group, and then they score a big goal. That really lifted our bench."
Preston made it a two-goal game less than two minutes later as he went unmarked just outside the crease and banged home a rebound from Martin for his eighth of the playoffs.
"I think depth in the playoffs is super important," Preston, who also had three assists, said. "I think throughout the playoffs we've had everyone contribute, from the top all the way to the bottom."
The advantage reached three with 11:49 to go, with Assanali Sarkenov registering his seventh of the playoffs and fifth in the past three games with a snap shot from the wing.
"We've been working on playing with leads all year, and playing the game the right way, and not giving them chances and opportunities to sneak back into the game," Preston said. "Obviously, it was a back-and-forth game, but we closed it out. (Portland is) a good team, and they're never gonna go away — they're kind of pesty like that."
Portland received the game's first power play when Van Olm was called for goaltender interference at 8:04 of the first period, but nothing came of it.
Two shifts later, the Chiefs got on the board. McIsaac's shot from the high slot was knocked down in front, but it went to Game 3 overtime hero Harrington on the far post, and he dumped it into a wide-open net for his sixth of the playoffs.
The Chiefs' opponents had scored first in 10 of the previous 13 playoff games this season.
The Chiefs took their second minor penalty of the period a few moments later, with Cristall sent off for tripping in the offensive zone. This time, Portland made good with the extra skater.
Tyson Jugnauth's shot from the high slot was deflected by Zakreski and it slipped between Cowan and the near post for his ninth of the postseason to even it at 1-1.
Late in the period Catton won an offensive zone draw back to McIsaac, who sent it over to Nathan Mayes. His blast from the high slot was tipped by Catton on the way through and got past Štěbeták and the Chiefs led 2-1 after one period.
Early in the second, Catton was called for holding an opponent's stick in the offensive zone and Portland cashed it in, with Buttazzoni sliding to his right and firing back against his body, beating Cowan stick-side to knot it up.
Spokane answered again with a power play goal from the second unit, as Martin gathered a redirected shot and beat the out-of-position Štěbeták for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
The Chiefs made it 4-2 when Preston entered the Portland zone with speed, then delayed and dished to McIsaac, who sent a wrister past Štěbeták for his first goal of the postseason and third point of the game.
"It was just kind of right place at the right time, almost, just being confident," McIsaac said. "I saw a little bit of an opening to go down the strong side there. And I was trying to just almost put it off his pad, but it got up a little high on me. So, I mean, it worked out in my favor."
But Buttazzoni scored his second of the game less than a minute later to make it a one-goal game again.
The teams took matching roughing penalties late in the period prompting 4-on-4 hockey for two minutes — and both took advantage of the big ice.
Portland turned it over in the neutral zone and Catton, Brayden Crampton and Cristall played tic-tac-toe, with Cristall putting it into a yawning net for his WHL-leading 18th of the postseason and a 5-3 lead with 1:09 left in the period.
But again, the Winterhawks responded quickly, as Joel Plante scored 26 seconds later to make it 5-4 entering the third.
Medicine Hat advances: Gavin McKenna had a goal and an assist and the Tigers beat the Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-3 to sweep the Eastern Conference finals and advance to the WHL championships. Mathew Ward scored twice for Medicine Hat, his fourth and fifth of the playoffs.
Continue reading...
