Steelheads Top Salmon Kings 4-2 To Pull Within One Point Of Division Lead

Four different Steelheads? skaters found the back of the net and Matt Zaba fought off 34 shots as the Steelheads downed the Salmon Kings 4-2 to take the rubber match of their three-game series from the SaveOnFoods Memorial Centre on Saturday night.The Steelheads (31-17-8) claimed the eight-game season series going 5-2-1, with their 15th road victory pulling them within one point of the West Division leading Salmon Kings (33-16-5).Marty Flichel put the Steelheads in front 1-0 just 1:22 into the game when he slid a John Lammers' pass underneath the pads of Julien Ellis (31 saves) for his 16th of the season.Minutes later Matt Craig made it 2-0 from the bottom of the right circle, as he took John Snowden?s cross-ice pass and beat Ellis with a quick wrist shot. Colin Sinclair picked up the second helper.At the 13:28 mark the Salmon Kings cut the deficit to 2-1. Darryl Lloyd was the recipient of a nice passing play and he redirected the puck behind Zaba. Marc-Andre Bernier and Chris St. Jacques set up his eighth of the campaign.Through 20 minutes of play the shots favored the Steelheads 15-10.Taggart Desmet notched his team-leading 21st of the season at 3:02 of the second period to give the Steelheads a 3-1 advantage. On the play, defenseman Kory Scoran grabbed a loose puck at center and quickly started the rush ahead to Desmet and his left circle wrister beat Ellis short side.The Salmon Kings responded before intermission, getting a shorthanded marker by Dylan Yeo at the 7:54 mark. The defenseman took Ash Goldie?s pass and led an odd-man rush into the offensive zone where he snapped the puck into the top shelf for his ninth of the campaign and the club?s third shorthanded goal in the last two games.Midway through the third period John Lammers tallied on the power play to snap the Steelheads zero-for-15 road trip skid, as he flipped a rebound opportunity just inside the far post for his 16th goal in 20 games this season. Kory Scoran, who contributed four points in the series, and Marty Flichel picked up the helpers on the only goal for either side in the third period.The final shots favored the Salmon Kings 36-35. The Steelheads went one-for-four on the power play, while the Salmon Kings went scoreless in seven tries. Zaba ended his three-game winless streak to earn his 10th win of the season, while Ellis fell to 19-8-3.The Steelheads now return home for a series against the Bakersfield Condors beginning on Wednesday, February 27. 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.