SPOKANE, WA. -- Its fitting that on Halloween that the only two players on the ice with masks would steal the show.
A 35-26 shot advantage, including a 27-10 mark in the second period, wasn’t enough for the Spokane Chiefs as Portland’s Kurtis Mucha stopped them all in a 2-0 shutout on Saturday night in the Spokane Arena. Michael Tadjdeh was making his third start, and second in as many nights, in a Spokane jersey and stopped 24 shots in 25 opportunities. The game was the first half of a home-and-home series with the Winterhawks as the two will skate at 5:00 in Portland on Sunday night.
Of Mucha’s 14 stops in the first period, several were highlight quality as the game was 0-0 through 20-minutes. The Winterhawks Spencer Bennett slapped home a bouncing rebound of a Colin Reddin shot at 15:08 of the second to put Portland on the board. Mucha was true to the test in the second with 13 saves. In the third, the Chiefs were outshot 13-8 and Brad Ross found an empty net with 16-seconds remaining to ice the game.
Spokane returns to the Arena on Wednesday night to host the Chilliwack Bruins on Wednesday.
