Winterhawks Squeak Out Win Over Spokane

CHL Media Release

The Portland Winterhawks earned a 2-1 win in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals Sunday at the Rose Garden to even the series with the Spokane Chiefs at 1-1.

The Chiefs opened the scoring at the 17:49 mark of the first period when Matt Marantz scored on a shot from the left faceoff circle to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. But it would be short-lived as just 33 seconds later Portland defenseman William Wrenn scored on a blast from the point for his first career playoff goal to tie the game at 1-1 going into the second period.

The Winterhawks took the lead on a power play 7:38 into the second period when Brad Ross came out from behind the net and put the puck on goal, leading to a scrum in front that ended with Ryan Johansen tapping it in to give Portland a 2-1 lead, which they would take into the third period.

From there the Winterhawks slammed the door on the Chiefs. Portland goaltender Mac Carruth was outstanding, stopping all 13 Spokane shots in the third period to preserve the 2-1 win. Overall Carruth stopped 34 of the 35 shots he saw on the night. His Spokane counterpart, James Reid, made 34 saves on 36 Portland shots.

Portland was 1-3 on the power play, and 2-2 on the penalty kill.

The series now shifts to Spokane, with Game 3 Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Game 4 Friday at 7 p.m. The teams will return to Portland for Game 5 Saturday night at the Rose Garden at 7 p.m. Tickets for that game are on sale now at ticketmaster.com.