Flichel's Seven Points Leads Steelheads To 8-3 Rout Of Condors

Marty Flichel racked up a goal and six assists, while John Lammers earned his second hat trick in his last nine games, as the Steelheads hammered the Condors 8-3 in front of another sold crowd of 5,579 fans at Qwest Arena on Saturday night.The five-goal win coupled with the Salmon Kings loss to the Wranglers moves the Steelheads (33-17-9) into a tie for first place in the West Division. Meanwhile, the Condors (17-30-9) lost for the fifth time in six games.Defenseman Kory Scoran netted the Steelheads? first of three goals in 46 seconds with a rocket from the blue line at 5:09 of the first period, an even-strength goal to open the game?s scoring. Darrell Hay and Flichel drew the helpers. Lammers then potted his third goal of the series just 26 seconds later to increase the lead to 2-0. Flichel and Lance Galbraith set up the marker.Moments later Flichel buried his 17th of the season, with Galbraith and Lammers registering the helpers. Hay made it 4-0 before intermission, scoring at 9:25 on a point shot that beat Condors? goaltender Michel Robinson (19 saves) cleanly. After one period the Steelheads led 4-0, the fourth time this season they?ve scored four times in a stanza.John Snowden scored at the 14:53 mark of the second period, a man advantage goal, to make it 5-0. Taking Matt Craig?s pass, Snowden walked out from the goal line and slammed the puck underneath Robinson. Jeremy Scherlinck also got an assist.Lammers then tallied twice before the second intermission, collecting his 20th and 21st goals in just 23 games this year. Flichel grabbed an assist on both even-strength markers, while Galbraith set up the first and Hay factored in on the tally that made the score 7-0.Through 40 minutes the shots were 26-18 in favor of the Steelheads, as Yutaka Fukufuji (18 saves) came in to replace Robinson to start the third period.The Condors got on the board with a pair of power play goals in the first nine minutes of the third period off the sticks of Tim Konsorada and Steve Slonina. Taggart Desmet padded the Steelheads lead to 8-3 with a power play goal of his own, the third of the series for the second-year pro and his team-leading 24th of the season. Lammers and Flichel both recorded an assist to cap their career nights.Condors? forward Eric Sonnenberg rounded out the scoring with an even-strength goal when he swatted home a rebound off Tom Boudreau?s shot to beat Steelheads? goaltender Matt Zaba (28 saves) with 6:54 left in regulation.The Steelheads ended the night with two power play goals and a season-high 45 shots. The Condors also scored twice on the power play and they finished with 31 chances. Zaba (12-6-1) has now won three straight, while Robinson (6-8-3) suffered the defeat. Galbraith ended the contest with a season-high, four assists, while Hay, Flichel, Scoran and Galbraith all finished with a +6 on the night.The Steelheads hit the road now for a six-game trip beginning in Anchorage against the Aces on Tuesday, March 4. The puck drops at 9:10 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.