October 3, 2026 | Home | Winterhawks Record: 2-2-0-0
The Numbers
Goals: Winterhawks 1, Chiefs 3
Shots: Winterhawks 30, Chiefs 29
Power Play: Winterhawks 0/5, Chiefs 1/3
Penalty Kill: Winterhawks 2/3, Chiefs 5/5
Faceoffs: Winterhawks 34, Chiefs 23
Three Stars: David Hoy (POR) | Brody Gillespie (SPO) | Jordan Duguay (POR)
The Game
This one was a lot closer than Friday night. The Winterhawks outshot Spokane 30-29, won the faceoff battle 34-23, and for long stretches controlled the pace and the offensive zone time. They also went 0 for 5 on the power play, including a 5-on-3, and gave up three goals on shots that beat Ondřej Štěbeták clean. Spokane took it 3-1 and swept the back-to-back at the Coliseum.
Portland had a good start, with two grade-A chances early. Reed Brown took a tripping penalty at 1:06, and the kill that followed was excellent. A diamond in the neutral zone denied entries, sticks were in the passing and shooting lanes, and the Chiefs needed most of the two minutes just to get set up.
Then it got chippy. At 8:53 a blown offside turned into a line brawl after a Spokane player flicked the puck at the net after the whistle. At 12:12 a hard hit by Sam Auld on an aggressive forecheck sparked a second one. Both times the penalties evened out and play stayed five-on-five.
Portland had two power plays in the 1st and did little with either. The first produced only shots off the rush. The second got set up a couple of times, then passed too much and never put a shot on net. Trevor Toyne went off for slashing at 17:18, Easton Dozark blocked two shots on the kill, and with six seconds left on the penalty Brody Gillespie took a pass at the top of the slot, walked in, and beat Štěbeták top blocker at 19:12. 1-0 Chiefs.
The 2nd opened with the teams trading chances and Portland's neutral zone passing noticeably better. The Winterhawks threw a lot of pucks at Bryce Francisco, who was making his first career WHL start. Past the halfway mark the passing regressed. Portland had trouble connecting or was just chipping it down the ice, and the Chiefs set up for long stretches and tired out the Portland defense.
The tying goal came right out of that. After a long stretch pinned in their own zone, a stretch pass sprung David Hoy for an open look and he buried it at 13:36, with assists to Stevie Grumley and Jordan Duguay. The goal stood after a long offside review, and Spokane's failed challenge put Portland on the power play. Reed Brown drew a hooking call on Ossie McIntyre at 14:51 for a short 5-on-3. It looked really good, cycling to move the goalie, but could not bury one. Then Gillespie struck again off of a counter rush, beating Štěbeták clean over the glove.
The 3rd started with another power play, 30 seconds in, and it produced nothing. Portland had trouble entering the zone cleanly and only got set up with 15 seconds left. From there the Winterhawks controlled the pace and the offensive zone time while Spokane played run and gun for rush chances. One of those rushes ended it. Chase Harrington, unassisted, beat Štěbeták clean top glove side at 12:12. Štěbeták was pulled with 3:20 left, and Nathan Brown's slashing penalty at 19:29 ended the last push.
The Turning Point:
Gillespie's second goal, at 17:35 of the 2nd. Portland had just tied it, had just spent an extended stretch on the power play, and had been controlling the run of play. Then Spokane came down on an odd-man rush and Gillespie went bar down from the right circle. Portland pushed late in the period to tie it again and never got back level.
What Worked and What Didn't
With the Puck
The answer to Friday night was visible early. Portland's defensemen carried the puck out from behind the net on breakouts to tighten the gap on the long stretch passes into the neutral zone. Those stretch passes are integral against this team, because Spokane's defense plays so aggressively that the way to beat it is to get behind it. The Hoy goal was exactly that.
The consistency was not there. The neutral zone passing was better to start the 2nd and fell off after the halfway mark. In the 1st Portland lived on rush chances and rarely got to cycle.
The power play is the real story. Five chances, no goals. The first one never set up in the zone. The second passed too much and did not get a shot on net. The 5-on-3 was the best look of the night and still came up empty. The one to open the 3rd could not enter the zone cleanly.
Without the Puck
The penalty kill was strong, 2 for 3. The first kill was the best stretch of defensive hockey of the weekend. Dozark's two blocks on the second kill came just before the Gillespie goal. The forecheck was aggressive all night.
The problem was the rush. Spokane's second and third goals both came off the rush while Portland was controlling play, and the Chiefs got a 2-on-1 the other way during a Portland power play. When the Chiefs did set up in the 2nd, they held the zone long enough to tire out the defense. Discipline cost them at the end too, with the slashing penalty at 19:29.
Between the Pipes
Ondřej Štěbeták: 6/10
Štěbeták stopped 26 of 29. He made a lot of good grade-A saves, and he gets the same grade as Friday for a different reason. Friday the chances should never have reached him. Tonight the goals themselves were somewhat weak.
What stood out: He was off his angle on the goals, and he was beaten clean on shots he saw the whole way.
The big save: The sprawling stop on the Chiefs' 2-on-1 during the Portland power play in the 2nd. A shorthanded goal there, in a 1-1 game, changes the night earlier than it actually changed.
The goals against: The first was Gillespie on the power play, walking in from the top of the slot and going top blocker with Štěbeták off his angle. The second was Gillespie again, bar down from the right circle off an odd-man rush. The third was Harrington off the rush, clean, top glove side. All three were shots he saw.
At the other end, Bryce Francisco gets an 8/10 for his first career WHL start, and his first win, with 29 saves on 30 shots. His rebound control was strong, steering pucks to the corner or freezing them. He was good on his angles, set and still for shots, and he made one great save on the 5-on-3. The reason it is an 8 and not higher is that he did not face many grade-A chances. Portland's biggest looks missed the net wide and never gave him the chance to make the save. It was a solid first start. I would just like to see him make the big saves when they are needed.
The Standouts
Brody Gillespie (SPO): Two goals, including the game winner. One on the power play late in the 1st, one bar down off the rush right after Portland tied it. He was the difference.
What It Means
Spokane swept the back-to-back, 6-1 and 3-1, and the two games could not have looked more different. Friday was a game Portland gave away in the neutral zone. Tonight the Winterhawks fixed a lot of that, outshot the Chiefs, won the faceoffs, and still lost by two.
Two things carried over. The first is the power play, which went 0 for 3 on Friday and 0 for 5 tonight. That is 0 for 8 against Spokane, with zone entries the problem both nights. The second is the rush. Spokane did not need long shifts in the offensive zone to win this one. It needed a power play goal and two rush chances, and it finished all three.
The Chiefs are 4-0-0-0. Portland is 2-2-0-0 after a 2-0 start.
Looking Ahead
Next: Wenatchee Wild
October 9, 2026 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum
I'm watching whether the Winterhawks can keep up the kind of passing they found in the second half of this game, the stretch passes through the neutral zone to get into the offensive zone. The structure was there in stretches. But if they want to actually be in these games, they have to start capitalizing on their grade-A chances, because tonight the looks were there and the finish was not.
Final Thought
The Winterhawks were a lot better tonight than they were last night. They outshot Spokane, won the faceoff battle, and found their passing game for long stretches. But the same things keep showing up: the neutral zone still needs cleaning up, the grade-A chances still are not going in, and Štěbeták could use more help defending the east-west passes that keep forcing him across his crease. Clean up those three things and this is a different weekend. The question is whether a 2-2 team can tighten all three before Wenatchee, or whether this is the level it settles into.
Be curious.
