Bomersback's point streak continues, helping Steelheads to shootout win over Utah

BOISE, ID - The Idaho Steelheads (11-7-2) came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Utah Grizzlies (7-9-2) 4-3 in a shootout in the first game of a series of four consecutive meetings between the two clubs; 3,056 fans witnessed the event at Qwest Arena. After a scoreless first period, Craig Cescon opened the scoring for Idaho with his first of the season at 3:22 of the second period, with assists going to Steve Gainey and Matt McKnight. Just under 10 minutes later, Tim Verbeek tied the game for Utah with his seventh of the season, assisted by James Sixsmith and Vladimir Nikoforov. The two teams were tied at one entering the third, and the game remained tied until Evan Stoflet put Utah ahead by a goal, 2-1, with his first of the season at 8:16; assists were given to Kotsopoulos and Tom May. Just under a minute-and-a-half later, Verbeek extended the Utah lead to 3-1 with his second of the game and eighth of the season, assisted by Kotsopoulos and Tom May. But the back half of the third period was all Steelheads, as Ben Nelson scored his tenth of the season on the power play to pull the Steelheads to within a goal. Mark Bomersback kept his point streak going with an assist on the goal, and Gainey added his second assist of the evening. As the final minutes were winding down in the third, Bomersback deflected a Darrell Hay point shot past Utah goalie Michael Mole to tie the game. Gainey also picked up an assist on the goal; his third. The sudden-death overtime period was not enough to finish the contest, but in the shootout the Steelheads were a perfect four-for-four. Nelson, Bomersback, Marty Flichel, and Bryan McGregor all scored to seal the victory for Idaho. Matt Climie picked up his third win in as many starts to improve to 6-4 on the season; he stopped 29 shots. Mole fell to 5-9-2 with the loss, and stopped 40 shots. TONIGHT?S AQUAFINA THREE STARS: STEVE GAINEY (IDH) TIM VERBEEK (UTA) MICHAEL MOLE (UTA) TONIGHT?S COORS LIGHT OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: MARK BOMERSBACK