The Portland Winterhawks lost 3-2 to the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday night. This was the last regular season meeting between Portland and Spokane in the 2025-2026 season. With the loss, the Winterhawks finished 0-6 against Spokane this campaign. In those six meetings, three games were settled by one goal. In the standings, Portland still holds the eighth overall seed in the Western Conference. Spokane also remains as the number six seed in the conference, with a two-point lead over the Seattle Thunderbirds.
The first period at Numerica Veterans Arena saw the Chiefs applying pressure quickly, until a penalty setup the Winterhawks on a power-play. With 10:35 remaining in the first period, a shot from the point by Alex Weiermair would be deflected high and wide of the net. Off the glass, Nathan Free and Ryan Miller would battle with Logan Wormald and Owen Martin along the bench side boards. Free would steal the puck away from Martin towards the top of the zone, but Wormald would sweep the puck off the boards and into the open ice. First to the loose puck was Portland’s Jordan Duguay, who would step up into the high slot. With no defender on him, Duguay faked one shot, and then wristed the puck on net. Duguay’s shot would fly over the shoulder of Spokane’s goaltender, Carter Esler, and stay under the crossbar for his 20th goal of the season. On just their second shot of the game, the Winterhawks would take a 1-0 lead.
Then, just 1:18 into the second frame, the Chiefs would respond with a power-play goal of their own. After Spokane gathered possession in the offensive zone, a tipped pass would set up Rhett Sather at the blue line. Sather had space, but would pass the puck across to Sam Oremba at the top of faceoff circle. Oremba then skipped a pass back over to Ossie McIntyre at the high corner. Skating down, McIntyre would then fire a wrist shot from just above the faceoff circle. Despite Ethan Hughes setting a screen in front, Winterhawks goaltender Ondrej Štěbeták was still able to make the save. However, the rebound would bounce out to Coco Armstrong, who had collapsed down from the bumper spot. Armstrong threw a quick wrist shot back on net, and the puck would slide five-hole on Štěbeták as he was repositioning. Armstrong’s first WHL power-play goal would tie the game at 1-1.
The Chiefs were not done scoring in the second period either. Around the halfway mark of the game, a poke check pushed the puck up to Tyus Sparks at the top of the defensive zone. Sparks would then skate the puck out to the neutral zone, and look to lead a pass for Owen Martin towards the middle of the ice. As the puck approached Martin, he would be tied up by Winterhawks defenseman, Carter Matthews. However, the puck would kick off Matthews’s skate, and force Matthews to swipe the puck away towards the far boards. With Martin now boxing Matthews out from the play, Logan Wormald would be able to hustle over and pick up the loose puck. Wormald then skated down low in the offensive zone, and would be cut off from going behind the net by Jake Gustafson. Loosing an edge, Wormald would fall to the ice, but not before centering a pass to the front of the net. The puck would once again deflect off the skate of a Winterhawks defenseman, and fall to the stick of Tyus Sparks. Quickly, Sparks would be able to lift a shot over the leg and past the glove of Štěbeták. Sparks’s shot stayed inside the near post, and Spokane would take a 2-1 lead with 9:54 remaining in the period.
The Winterhawks would then answer back with a short-handed goal late in the period. Winning the defensive zone faceoff, Ryan Miller shifted the puck over to Max Pšenička by the near boards. Pšenička then passed the puck over to Alex Weiermair at the far faceoff circle. From there, Weiermair skated along the bench side boards into the neutral zone. At center ice, a poke check from behind would cause Weiermair to lose possession momentarily, but the free puck would slide between the legs of Spokane’s nearest defender. This allowed Weiermair to enter the offensive zone with speed, and regain control of the puck. Now with one defenseman to beat, Weiermair would toe drag the puck at the faceoff dot and cut to the middle of the zone. Another slap at the puck from a retreating Chiefs defenseman would stall Weiermair’s shot, but the puck would bounce right back to Weiermair’s stick. Weiermair would flip a backhand shot past the right leg of Esler, and tie the game at 2-2 with 1:15 left in the second.
Weiermair’s goal would hold until 7:51 was left in the third period. At even strength, Spokane would clear their defensive zone with a pass from Cohen Harris to Gavin Burcar along the defensive blue line. Burcar would then skate through the middle of the neutral zone, and drift to his right as he crossed the offensive blue line. Will McLaughlin kept Burcar tight to the boards as they skated down deeper into the zone. Then, from the corner, Burcar would center a pass as McLaughlin crunched him into the boads. The puck would hit the stick of Griffin Darby in the blue paint, and redirect on to Štěbeták. Štěbeták would make the save, but the puck continued to bounce loosely in the crease. On an edge, the puck would find the stick of Ethan Hughes, who would flip a shot over the leg and around the blocker of Štěbeták. Hughes would score his ninth goal of the season, and the Chiefs would take a 3-2 lead.
Portland held possession of the puck for the vast majority of time left in regulation. Unfortunately for them, Spokane’s defense held strong. Multiple shots from Alex Weiermair and Nathan Free were blocked before they could reach the net. Carter Esler would save all six of Portland’s shots in the final frame, and the Chiefs would hold on to win 3-2 over Portland.
The Winterhawks have five games left in their regular season. Portland hosts the Tri-City Americans at 7 p.m. Friday. Puck drop at Veterans Memorial Coliseum is at 7:00 p.m.
Northwest Sports Desk 