Penalty killing and two third period goals propel Steelheads to win

The Idaho Steelheads (21-13-2) battled back from a two-goal deficit in the third period to eventually win 4-3 in a shootout against the Utah Grizzlies (14-15-6) in front of 3,599 fans at Qwest Arena. The game marked the eighth meeting of the year between the geographical rivals, who still have seven meetings remaining with one another. The first period yielded no scoring from either side, as the Grizzlies outshot the Steelheads 11-7 in the first period. There were four combined goals in the second, however. Mike Walsh got things going for Utah at 2:14 of the second, with Tim Maxell and Scott Thauwald tallying assists. Tim Verbeek scored at 5:39 to put Utah ahead 2-0, with assists going to Rob Hennigar and Evan Stoflet. At 11:30 though, Matt McKnight put the Steelheads on the board and cut the Utah lead to a goal when he scored on a wrister from the top of the left wing circle; Kory Scoran and Tyler Shelast chipped in assists. Utah went ahead by two goals again about a minute later, when Ryan Kinasewich split the Steelheads? defense and walked in alone to beat netminder Matt Climie. Heading into the third period down 3-1, the Steelheads picked up a goal at 3:41 of the third from Ben Nelson; the tally was his team-leading 18th of the season. Darrell Hay and Mark Bomersback added assists. Minutes later, the Steelheads found themselves killing nearly two full minutes of a five-on-three Utah power play, and they did so successfully. A perfect Steelheads penalty kill on the night made a comeback possible, and at 14:42 of the third period, Mark Bomersback tied the game with his seventh of the season; Scoran picked up his second assist of the night on the goal. Regulation time ended with the game tied 3-3, and the overtime period did not solve the tied score either. To a shootout went the Steelheads and Grizzlies, and it took six shooters to finish the game. Shelast, the sixth shooter for Derek Laxdal?s Steelheads, went top-shelf on a backhand deke to beat Michael Mole in the Utah net to end the game. Climie improved to 13-7-0 with the win, stopping 35-of-38 Utah shots. Mole turned aside 42 of 45 Idaho shots in a losing effort as he watched his record fall to 10-15-6. The Steelheads are back in action Saturday night in Stockton against the Thunder.