Steelheads Watch Aces Score Five Unanswered In Loss

Aces? forward Bo Cheesman recorded a hat trick and the home team scored five straight times in a 5-1 win over the Steelheads in front of 3,759 fans at Sullivan Arena on Wednesday night to take both games of a two-game set.The Steelheads (33-19-9) have now lost back-to-back games for the just the second time since December 8, while the victory moved the Aces (32-20-5) to within six points of the Steelheads for third place in the National Conference with the Aces having four games in hand. The match also wrapped up the 10-game season series with the Steelheads going 5-3-2.Steelheads? forward John Lammers, the reigning ECHL Player of the Month, opened the game?s scoring with his 23rd goal of the season, a left circle snap shot that flew over the glove of Aces? goaltender Mike Brown (24 saves) and into the top shelf. Marty Flichel extended his scoring streak to six games on the play, grabbing the only assist at the 5:03 mark of the first period. The Aces responded with an unassisted, shorthanded goal by Cheesman just over four minutes later to tie the game at one. Stealing the puck along the left wing wall, Cheesman deked around Lammers in the slot and then got Steelheads? goaltender Matt Zaba (24 saves) out of position before firing home his 26th goal of the campaign.After one period the game was tied at one and the shots favored the Aces 8-6.A three-goal, second period outburst by the home team in a span of just 9:16 began midway through the frame on Cheesman?s second of the night. Racing into the offensive zone, Cheesman danced past Steelheads? defenseman Darrell Hay at the left circle and then carved out into the crease where he slid the puck just inside the far post.Just over two minutes later Olivier Filion struck shorthanded, another unassisted marker for the Aces to make the score 3-1. Filion cut off Jeremy Scherlinck?s pass in the Steelheads? defensive zone and ripped a wrister past Zaba for his 19th of the year. That goal marked the 10th shorthanded goal the Steelheads have allowed this season and the third time this season an opponent had tallied multiple times while on the penalty kill. It became 4-1 with less than two minutes left in the period off an unassisted tally by Michael Lambert, his fifth in 13 games with the Aces. On the play, Steelheads? defenseman Craig Cescon had his pass to Hay partially deflected by Lambert, who then grabbed the puck off the end boards and stuffed it just underneath the crossbar.Through 40 minutes of play the Aces led 4-1 on the scoreboard and 20-16 in shots.Cheesman completed his hat trick just 1:28 into the third period with Josh Soares registering the only assist.The final shots favored the Aces 29-25. Neither team tallied on the power play in nine combined opportunities. Zaba (12-6-2) saw his three-game winning streak come to an end in his first loss to the Aces, while Brown (6-7-0) has now won five straight, with three of those wins coming against the Steelheads.The Steelheads now head to Stockton to continue their six-game road trip against the Thunder on Friday, March 7. 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.