Steelheads Kill Off 11 Vegas Power Plays, but Lose in Midnight Game

The Idaho Steelheads (22-7-2) gave up an early goal and never led as the Las Vegas Wranglers (12-14-3) earned a 3-1 win in the first meeting of the season between the two clubs. The Wranglers' annual midnight game, which started at 11:59 PM Pacific, featured a perfect 11-for-11 penalty kill rate for the Steelheads in the losing effort. Adam Huxley and Las Vegas' Kyle Hagel dropped the gloves at the opening draw; a precursor of things to come. However, at 11:16 of the first period, Mick Lawrence banged home a rebound to give the Wranglers a 1-0 lead, which would hold until the 6:50 mark of the second period. Brad Miller emerged from the penalty box, moved in alone, and caught the Wranglers' defense and goaltender Michael Ouzas off-guard, as Miller tied the game with his fourth of the season. Weston Tardy gathered the assist on Miller's goal. However, Kyle Hagle answered with the eventual game-winner at the 17:25 mark, as he moved in with a two-on-one, and elected to shoot, beating Idaho's Richard Bachman on the stick side. The Wranglers added the empty-netter at 19:50 of the third when Lawrence fired another one over the line to give Las Vegas a 3-1 lead. However, after the goal, the Wranglers' John Schwarz cross-checked Steelheads captain Marty Flichel at center ice, triggering a sequence of events that saw Schwarz receive a game misconduct for cross checking, the Steelheads' Kyle Radke given a misconduct for leaving the bench, and the Steelheads' Adam Huxley given his second fighting major of the night for a bout with Las Vegas' Ryan Weston. Richard Bachman falls to 9-3-2 as he returns from the American Hockey League's Texas Stars; he stopped 27 of 29 shots in the loss. Michael Ouzas stopped 18 of 19 shots in the win; he is 9-11-2. The Steelheads are back in action Thursday night at Qwest Arena when they welcome the Stockton Thunder to Boise. The puck drops at 7:10 PM.