PORTLAND, Ore. — Mac Carruth stopped 27 shots for his fourth-career playoff shutout as the Portland Winterhawks blanked the visiting Spokane Chiefs 3-0 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action.
Portland leads the best-of-seven second-round matchup 2-0.
Chase De Leo, Nicolas Petan and Brendan Leipsic scored for the Winterhawks, who led 1-0 after one period and 2-0 after two, while Ty Rattie chipped in with two assists.
Spokane goaltender Eric Williams kept the Chiefs in the game, stopping 19-of-20 shots in the first period and 40-of-43 overall. His teammates, however, couldn’t solve Carruth, who has stopped 65-of-67 shots faced in the series.
Portland went 0 for 4 on the power play whle Spokane failed to score on its only chance with the man advantage
Game 3 takes place Tuesday when the Chiefs host the Winterhawks at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
In other action, the Kamloops Blazers controlled everything in the first period on Saturday, which was all it took to earn a victory in Game 1 of their second-round matchup with the Kelowna Rockets.
Kamloops outshot host Kelowna 18-3 in the opening 20 minutes and took a three-goal lead into the first intermission, en route to a 4-2 victory.
Brendan Ranford scored twice in the first period for the Blazers to go along with Aaron Macklin’s first-career post-season goal.
Chase Souto scored an insurance goal for Kamloops midway through the third period.
Henrik Nyberg and Cole Linaker responded in the second period for the Rockets, who made their best attempt at a comeback.
Cole Cheveldave made 21 saves for the win as Jordan Cooke stopped 29-of-33 shots in defeat.
Kamloops went 2 for 4 on the power play while Kelowna failed to score on its only chance with the man advantage.
Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday when the Rockets host the Blazers at Prospera Place.
