Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 21 – 3/8/23

Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 21 – 3/8/23 

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) grabbed two wins on the three-in-three weekend this past week down in Kansas City and have a chance to lock up a playoff spot heading into this weekend kicking off one of two season long five game homestands. 

THIS WEEK’S GAMESFriday, Mar. 10 vs. Allen Americans | 7:10 p.m. (MT) Saturday, Mar. 11 vs. Allen Americans | 7:10 p.m. (MT) 

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDINGS1. Idaho Steelheads (43-9-1-2, 89pts) 2. Kansas City Mavericks (26-22-6-1, 59pts) 3. Allen Americans (28-25-1-0, 57pts) 4. Wichita Thunder (26-25-5-0, 57pts) 5. Utah Grizzlies (25-26-3-0, 53pts) 6. Rapid City Rush (24-29-1-0, 49pts) 7. Tulsa Oilers (19-27-7-1, 46pts) 

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN

LAST WEEK’S GAMES

Friday, Mar. 3             Idaho (5) at Kansas City (2)    HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Despite falling behind 2-1 after the first period the Steelheads rattled off four unanswered goals in the victory. Josh Boyko made 23 saves in his Idaho debut while Ty Pelton-Byce (2-1-3), Ryan Dmowski (1-1-2), and Jordan Kawaguchi (1-1-2), tallied multi-point games. A.J. White scored his 84th goal as a Steelhead moving him into third all-time in Idaho’s ECHL modern era. 

Saturday, Mar. 4        Idaho (1) at Kansas City (2)    HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

The Steelheads win streak ended at six games as Ty Pelton-Byce was the only player to find the back of the net despite Idaho outshooting Kansas City 36-27. Adam Scheel saw a personal win streak end at five games as he made 25 saves in net. 

Sunday, Mar. 5           Idaho (3) vs. Idaho (2) SO      HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Idaho overcame a 2-0 deficit heading into the final period receiving goals from Zane Franklin and Justin Ducharme as Jordan Kawaguchi and A.J. White scored in the shootout to hand the Steelheads their first shootout win of the season. Adam Scheel stopped two of the three shooters he faced while making 26 saves in the game. 

RECENT MILESTONESMarch 5:          Matt Register tallied his 37th assist of the season becoming the all-time leader in a single season amongst defenseman in the Steelheads ECHL modern era passing Darrell Hay (36, 2007-08).  

March 4:         Jade Miller played in his 150th career professional game.  

March 3:         A.J. White scored his 84th goal as a Steelhead moving him into third place all-time in the Steelheads ECHL modern era. Ryan Dmowski recorded his 50th career ECHL assist.  

UPCOMING MILESTONES

• #7 Owen Headrick is six goals shy of tying Rob Dumas (19, 1998-99) for most goals by a defenseman in Steelheads history and one shy of tying Joe Faust (2016-17) for most all-time in the ECHL modern era. He is one points shy of tying Darrell Hay (2007-08) for most points (45) in a single season by a defenseman in the Steelheads ECHL modern era. 
• #13 Casey Johnson is two games shy of 100 career Steelhead games. 
• #18 A.J. White is three assists (154) shy of tying Darrell Hay for second all-time. He is (5) points shy of 300 career ECHL points and (3) points shy of 300 career pro points. 
• #43 Matt Register is three goals shy of 100 career ECHL goals.

STEELHEADS STANDOUTS

• #6 Wade Murphy is fourth in the ECHL at (+30) and has points in back-to-back games (1-1-2). Over his last 20 games he has (6-9-15). 
• #7 Owen Headrick leads all ECHL defensemen in goals (13)andis second in points (44). He is tied for first amongst defenders in power-play goals (6) and fourth in power-play points (20). He is third amongst ECHL rookies in man advantage points. He has points in six of his last nine games (2-6-8), 16 of his last 22 (5-16-21), 32 of his last 40 (13-27-40), and at least one point in 33 of 44 games including longest point streak by a defenseman in the league this season, 14 games from Nov.11-Dec. 14 (8G, 11A).  
• #11 Justin Ducharme has points in in seven of his last 11 games (5-4-9) including eight goals in his last 15 games. He has points in 14 of his last 20 games (10-9-19). He has a point in 18 of 26 games. 
• #15 Ryan Dmowski is tied for 13th in points (54) and tied for 10th in goals (22) in the ECHL. Hehas points in eight of his last 12 games (3-6-9), 10 of his last 16 games (5-6-11), 11 of his last 18 (6-7-13), 12 of his last 20 (6-8-14), 13 of his last 22 (6-10-16), 16 of his last 26 (8-12-20). He has a point in 36 of 55 games and a goal in 19. 
• #18 A.J. White has points in 11 of his last 20 (8-7-15). He has points in 15 of his last 27 games (12-10-22), 20 of his last 37 (16-14-30), and 21 of his last 39 (16-15-31). Over his last 47 games he has tallied a point in 26 games (16-21-37).
• #29 Willie Knierim has goals/points in four of his last seven games (4-1-5). He has eight goals in his last 11 games including points in 15 of his last 23 games (11-9-20). 
• #31 Rémi Poirier is first in the ECHL amongst save percentage (.928) and goals against-average (2.07). He is fourth in wins (19) and tied for second in shutouts (3).
• #35 Adam Scheel has won six of his last seven games and ranks third in the ECHL in goals against-average (2.12) and tied for third in save percentage (.926).  
• #43 Matt Register leads the ECHL at (+51) and has been an even or plus rating in 48 of 55 games. He is third amongst ECHL defensemen in points (43) and second in assists (37). He has points in nine of his last 11 games (1-10-11), 15 of his last 19 games (2-18-20) and 22 of his last 34 games (5-23-28). 
• #47 Patrick Kudla is fifth amongst ECHL defensemen in points (40) and third in assists (34) and has a point in 26 of 46 games.
• #51 Dawson Barteaux has points in four of his last seven games (0-4-4) and seven of his last 12 games (1-6-7). 
• #74 Cody Haiskanen is second amongst ECHL skaters at (+38). 
• #77 Jordan Kawaguchi has points in five of his last nine games (4-6-10) and is tied for 10th in the ECHL in goals (21). 

TEAM NOTESGONE STREAKINWith a 2-1 loss last night the Steelheads win streak officially ended at six games dating back to Feb. 17 and a 10-game point streak dating back to Feb. 8 also came to a close. Idaho is on a 10-game home winning streak which is the longest in the Steelheads ECHL modern era, with the longest ever coming back in the WCHL days during the 2002-03 Idaho win 20 straight home contests. 

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN Idaho has a 30-point lead in the Mountain Division, 11-point lead on the Western Conference and entire league. 

40 WIN PLATEAUOn Feb. 24 Idaho collected their 40th win of the season in just their 50th game. In 19 ECHL seasons the Steelheads have hit 40 wins 13 times. 

GOAL SCORING AT A PREMIUM Idaho has scored the most goals for this season (221) averaging (4.02) per game. Last season the Steelheads scored (216) goals in 72 games. Idaho has scored five or more goals in six of their last 12 games. They have scored four or more goals in 22 of their last 37 games and five or more in 21 of their last 41. The Steelheads have scored four or more goals in 34 games this year posting a record of (32-1-1) when doing so. 

PUCKS STOP AT THE STEELHEADS NETIdaho has allowed the fewest goals this season (118) averaging just (2.15) per game against. The Steelheads have held their opponent to two or fewer goals in 35 of the first 55 games posting a record of (33-2) when doing so. 

DEPTH IN SCORING13 different players have double digits in goals while 16 different skaters have 20+ points. Of the 24 skaters to play for Idaho this year 22 have scored at least one goal while 21 have double digits in points. 

ONE GOAL GAMES Idaho has played the fewest one goal games this season in the entire ECHL at just (15GP, 9-3-1-2) but eight of the last nine. 

DEFENSIVE SCORING The Steelheads have produced the most points from the blueline in the entire ECHL (31-155-186). Last year Idaho had (31-139-170) from the backend.  

OVERALL GOAL DIFFERNTIALS Idaho has scored the most goals for (221) and allowed the fewest (118) for the best goal differential (+103). 

INSIDE THE TOP TEN IN SPECIAL TEAMS Idaho ranks seventh on the power-play (46/205, 22.4%). The Steelheads have scored a power-play goal in nine of their last 17 games and in 31 of their first 55 games including 11 multi-power play goal games. Idaho ranks second on the penalty kill (167/197, 84.8%) and are (61/72, 84.7%) in their last 22 games including (22/27, 81.5%) in their last eight games. They have allowed a power-play goal against in just 20 games this season including eight multi-man advantage goal games. 

SCORING FIRST Idaho has scored first 37 times this season, second most in the league, and have a record of (31-4-1-1) when scoring first. The Steelheads have scored first in eight of their last 10 games and in 13 of their last 16 games.

STATISTICAL LEADERSGoals: Ryan Dmowski, Jordan Kawaguchi (21) Assists: Matt Register (37)   Points: Ryan Dmowski (54) Plus/Minus: Matt Register (+51)PIMS: Wade Murphy (56)  PPGs: Owen Headrick (6)SHGs: A.J. White, Ty Pelton-Byce, Willie Knierim (2)GWGs: Wade Murphy, Owen Headrick, Zane Franklin, A.J. White (4) Shots: Ryan Dmowski (255)Wins: Rémi Poirier (19)GAA: Rémi Poirier (2.07)SV%: Rémi Poirier (.928)

Watch the games this Friday and Saturday at 7:10 p.m. vs. Allen on FloHockey and/or Sparklight Channel 72 or listen on the Steelheads flagship station, 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”.