BENSENVILLE, Ill. – Chicago Steel (6-12-0) goaltender Cale Morris held the Tri-City Storm (4-10-2) at bay on Friday night at The Edge, shutting them out in a 2-0 win for the Steel.

Storm goaltender Jacob Johansson also put on a show at the other end of the ice in the loss, making 35 saves on 36 shots.

The shutout spoiled the debut of new Storm head coach Jim Hulton, who was introduced on Tuesday.

A defensive battle that didn’t see either team score in the first 40 minutes, the Storm only managed 21 shots on Morris, who posted his first USHL shutout.

The Steel finally broke through at 3:10 of the third, when forward Artem Artemov took a pass from linemate CJ Smith and beat Johansson with a shot over the left shoulder.

Smith added an empty net goal in the final minute for Chicago to seal the win with 25 seconds to play.

Earlier in the contest, Johansson stopped Chicago forward John Ernsting on a penalty shot at 7:11 of the second period.

Tri-City will head on to Ann Arbor, Mich. for two battles with the USA 17-and-under squad on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. CST and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CST.

The Storm will return home on Nov. 29-30 for a weekend series with the Omaha Lancers at the Viaero Event Center.

Notes: The Storm scratched forwards Joey DiBenedetto, Nick Hutchison, Steven Haydon and defensemen Sean Lang.… 

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

(no scoring)

2nd Period

(no scoring)

3rd Period

Chicago – Artem Artemov (CJ Smith) 3:10
Chicago – CJ Smith (empty net) (Robbie Payne, Robby Jackson) 19:35

PENALTIES

1st Period
Tri-City – Drew Mayer – (Holding), 2 min, 6:34

2nd Period

Tri-City – Drew Mayer – (Hooking), 2 min, 3:22
Chicago – Nathan Kwiecinski – (Interference), 2 min, 6:41
Chicago – Victor Bjorkung – (Hooking), 2 min, 9:35
Tri-City – Kevin Kerr – (Holding), 2 min, 9:50
Tri-City – Cutler Martin – (Slashing), 2 min, 13:41
Chicago – Brady Jones – (Too Many Men) (Bench Minor), 2 min, 16:27

3rd Period

Chicago – Danny Fetzer – (Head Contact), 2 min, 4:50
Tri-City – Daniel Labosky – (High Sticking), 2 min, 17:26
Chicago – Connor McDonald – (Holding), 2 min, 19:52

Power Play

Tri-City – 0/5

Chicago – 0/5

Shots

Tri-City: 9, 5, 7 = Total: 21

Chicago: 6, 15, 16 = Total: 37

Saves

Tri-City – Jacob Johansson – 35/36

Chicago – Cale Morris – 21/21