Winterhawks drop third straight to begin set with Spokane

Portland skids into road trip after Chiefs tally a 5-2 win in Mondays Daylight Classic game

PORTLAND – A hat trick and a handful of missed opportunities did in the Winterhawks on Monday afternoon as they fell to Spokane 5-2.

“They put pressure on us all over the ice,” Portland right wing Ty Rattie said. “They didn’t give us time make plays, or do anything. They played their game well and we didn’t adjust.”

For most of the game, Portland was just a little off.

The Winterhawks didn’t make any huge blunders, but they had several minor miscues. When they had openings in the net behind Spokane goaltender Eric Williams, they missed by a few inches. When Portland goaltender Mac Carruth made a deflection, the Winterhawks did not clear the puck out quick enough. On power-play chances, Portland mishandled passes on would-be slap shots on goal. The Winterhawks were 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

“Their penalty killing got the job done. Our power play didn’t get what we needed,” Portland coach Travis Green said. “It was one of those games where a power play goal would have been huge.”

Spokane leftwing Todd Fiddler only made matters worse for the Winterhawks. He scored a goal in all three periods to keep the heat on Portland. After Rattie scored to give the Winterhawks the early lead, Fiddler tied it up with about 9:30 remaining in the first period.

Fiddler scored a short-handed goal seven minutes into the second period with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line. When Portland pulled Carruth for an extra skater late in the game, Fiddler added insult to injury when he launched a shot from center ice, splitting the posts for a hat trick.

The Winterhawks have lost three straight games after winning the previous 14. They have two days to adjust to Fiddler and the Chiefs before the two squads face off in Spokane on Wednesday — the middle game of three straight between the clubs.

“It shows who you are when things aren’t going your way and you go into a tough building,” Green said. “It’s an exciting time for our team to see if we can find a way to go out and win.”