The Spokane Chiefs defeated the Portland Winterhawks by a score of 5-2 in front of 8,168 fans at the Spokane Arena Saturday night. Dominik Uher led the Chiefs in a three point effort with a goal and two assists. The Chiefs now sit nine points behind the Winterhawks for second place in the division.
The first goal of the game came at 14:56 of the first period, on the power play courtesy of Portland's Ty Rattie. Portland outshot the Chiefs 10-5 in the opening period.
The Chiefs offense picked up in the second period as Steven Kuhn scored at 5:09 that period finding a loose puck at the front of the net created by Todd Fiddler shot. Brenden Kichton was credited with the second assist.
Kichton gave the Chiefs the lead on a slap shot from the blue line that went top shelf at 13:43 of the second. Mike Aviani and Darren Kramer set the play up for Kichton.
For the second night in a row the Chiefs scored a short handed goal, thanks to Kuhn's second goal of the night at 16:46 created by a Uher rush to the net. Kuhn now has 10 goals on the season.
Portland, however, answered back on the same power play, with Ty Rattie scoring his second of the night just 17-seconds after the Kuhn goal at 17:03. The St. Louis Blues prospect has a league leading 42 goals.
Dylan Walchuk continued to contribute in the scoring department for the Chiefs in the third, receiving a pass in front of the crease from Uher at 2:28 of the third. Walchuk has three goals in six games with the Chiefs.
Uher cemented the victory for Spokane, scoring on a snap shot from the right face off circle at 16:52 of the third to make it 5-2 Chiefs. Uher has 14 points in nine games since returning from playing for the Czech Republic in the IIHF World Juniors tournament.
The Chiefs finished the game 0-5 on the power play, while Portland went 2-3. The Chiefs led in shots on goal by a count of 33-26.
The Chiefs face the Winterhawks again tomorrow night, with the puck dropping at 6:00 p.m. Tickets for all home games are avialable by calling the Chiefs office at (509) 535-PUCK or TicketsWest at (509) 325-SEAT.
