Winterhawks edge sluggish Chiefs

| March 25, 2010 2:00 AM

SPOKANE - Troy Rutkowski scored with 4 minutes remaining to give the Portland Winterhawks a 2-1 win over the Spokane Chiefs in Western Hockey League playoff action in front of 4,320 at the Spokane Arena on Wednesday night.

Spokane's Kyle Beach evened the game at 1 at the 12:10 mark of the second period, his third goal of the playoffs.

James Reid had 47 saves for Spokane, which was outshot 49-31.

"We knew it probably wasn't going to go four games," Reid said. "So we just have to regroup and get ready for Friday night."

Spokane takes a 2-1 lead into Friday night's Game 4 of the Western Conference first round series.

"I think our team is ticked off after this game," Spokane's Tyler Johnson said. "I know we'll come back, but we have to work a lot harder than we did tonight."