Condors Clip Steelheads 4-3 In Shootout

Steelheads? forward Taggart Desmet picked up two assists through regulation but his team saw a one-goal, third period lead slip away in an eventual 4-3 shootout loss to the Condors in front of 3,961 fans at Qwest Arena on Wednesday night.Earning one point in the standings, the Steelheads (31-17-9) failed to gain ground on the Salmon Kings who beat Las Vegas 5-3 to move two points ahead of the defending champions for first place in the West Division. Meanwhile the Condors (17-28-9) win snapped their three-game losing streak and pulled them into a tie with the RoadRunners for the final National Conference playoff spot.The visitors jumped out to a 2-0 advantage on goals by Reagan Leslie and Mark Derlago in the first 17 minutes of the contest. Both goals were even-strength, with Derlago?s goal marking his team-leading 28th of the season.However the Steelheads responded as Desmet fed Andrew Martin and his snap shot from the left circle beat Yutaka Fukufuji (32 saves) with just four seconds left before intermission to make the score 2-1.The Steelheads grabbed the only two markers in the second stanza with Marty Flichel burying his 16th of the campaign and Craig Cescon netting his second of the year just 2:38 later. Colin Sinclair and Bill Kinkel set up Flichel?s tally, while Desmet and Greg Rallo registered the helpers on Cescon?s one-timer that glanced off of Fukufuji and into the top shelf.Leading 3-2 after 40 minutes of play the Steeelheads watched as the Condors? Todd Griffith came in alone on a breakaway against Kellen Briggs (24 saves) and although the initial snap shot was denied, Steelheads? defenseman Kory Scoran went sliding into Briggs pushing the puck and the netminder over the goal line before the net came off its moorings. Brett Lutes and Leslie got the assists on the goal at 3:46.The game went to overtime deadlocked at three and after both teams failed to score, the tilt moved to a shootout. The Steelheads went one-for-five with Martin collecting the only goal, to drop to 4-4 in shootouts. The Condors got markers from Tim Konsorada and Lutes on their first two shots before Briggs shut the door on their next three chances. Fukufuji, who denied Desmet to keep the game from going to a sudden death shootout, improved to 10-11-1 on the season.The final shots favored the Steelheads 35-28. The Steelheads finished zero-for-seven with the man advantage and the Condors went one-for-three. Despite the shootout defeat, Briggs (15-8-2) is unbeaten in regulation in his last four starts.The Steelheads continue their series with the Condors on Friday, February 29. The puck drops at 7:10 p.m. MST. All the action can be heard live on 1350 AM, KTIK ?The Ticket? or via the B2 Networks. Don?t forget, Steelheads? single-game tickets can be purchased via www.idahosteelheads.com (using the print-at-home feature), by calling 331-TIXS or from the Qwest Arena box office.