Steelheads Sweep Thunder, Win 3-1

The Idaho Steelheads (11-2-1) completed a three-game sweep of the Stockton Thunder (4-7-3) with a 3-1 win at Stockton Arena. Evan Barlow scored his third goal in his last two games, and Richard Bachman vaulted into a tie for the league lead among goalies with his sixth win this season. The Steelheads struck in the first four minutes, just as they did in Saturday night?s contest. Kevin DeVergilio banged home a rebound from an Adam Huxley shot for his fourth goal of the season. Also earning an assist was Evan Barlow. Later in the period, the Steelheads successfully killed off 1:33 of five-on-three Stockton power play time with Marty Flichel and Mathieu Tousignant in the penalty box. Entering the contest, Stockton had the top power play in the ECHL. The Steelheads tacked on a power play tally in the second period when Mike Stuart delayed at the point, fired a snapshot through traffic, and Evan Barlow banged home the rebound for his eighth of the season. John Swanson also added an assist on the goal. In the third period, Garet Hunt scored for Stockton to pull the Thunder to within a goal, but it would be all the offense Stockton could put together in the game. At 19:18, with the Stockton net empty, Adam Huxley popped one home to put the Steelheads up by a pair; Trevor Ludwig assisted on the empty-netter. Richard Bachman improves to 6-2-1 in his first professional season; he stopped 20 of 21 shots. Bryan Pitton stopped 29 of 31 in a losing effort for Stockton; he is 1-3-1. The Steelheads return home to Qwest Arena to take on the Victoria Salmon Kings on Wednesday. The puck drops at 7:10 PM MST.