Steelheads Fall Apart Late In 6-0 Loss To Salmon Kings

Five Salmon Kings skaters registered multiple points and Julien Ellis made 44 stops as the Steelheads watched the West Division leaders explode for five, third period goals in a 6-0 defeat in front of 5,456 fans at the SaveOnFoods Memorial Centre on Friday night.The Steelheads (30-17-8) worst loss of the season and their third shutout defeat abruptly ended their three-game winning and four-game unbeaten streak, allowing the Salmon Kings (33-15-5) to increase their lead for first place in the division to three points.Leading 1-0 after two periods, the Salmon Kings third period onslaught began early in the frame with Jordan Krestanovich tallying on the power play just 1:21 into the stanza. Matt Kelly and Gary Gladue picked up the helpers. Kevin Estrada made it 3-0, taking Ash Goldie?s rebound and stuffing it past Steelheads? goaltender Matt Zaba (28 saves) for a shorthanded marker. Wes Goldie then potted the only even-strength goal of the outing, batting a rebound out of mid air and over the head of Zaba for his 25th of the campaign. Marc Andre-Bernier, who set up Wes Goldie?s tally, buried a shorthanded bid midway through the third period to put the home team up by five, while marking the second time this season the Steelheads have allowed two shorthanded goals in the same contest. Minutes later Chris St. Jacques scored the Salmon Kings third man advantage goal of the night to round out the scoring. Darryl Lloyd, who finished with two assists, and Bernier collected the assists.Early in the second period Kiel McLeod put the Salmon Kings in front 1-0 with a power play goal at the 3:13 mark. Gladue and Krestanovich grabbed the helpers on the only goal prior to the second intermission. After two frames the Steelheads led in shots 25-20.The final shots favored the Steelheads 44-34, as the visitors tied their season-high for shots in a game. However, the Steelheads failed to score in their seven power play opportunities, while giving up five specialty teams goals in the shutout defeat, a season-best for an opponent this season. Zaba (9-6-2) is now winless in three games, while Ellis pitched his second whitewashing to jump to 19-7-3.The Steelheads conclude their four-game road trip as they play the Salmon Kings for the final time in the regular season on Saturday, February 23. The puck drops at 8:05 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.