Steelheads Surrender Four in Third Period, Fall 5-2 in Victoria

The Idaho Steelheads (23-10-2) fell for the fifth time in six games as the Victoria Salmon Kings (19-14-3) topped the Steelheads 5-2 tonight at the SaveOn Foods Memorial Centre. The Steelheads led 2-1 entering the third period, but surrendered four unanswered tallies to the Salmon Kings. The Victoria Salmon Kings opened the scoring on the power play when Scott Howes capitalized on a rebound while Idaho defenseman Brendan Milnamow was serving a minor penalty for delay of game. Idaho goalie Rejean Beauchemin made a pair of saves before Howes eventually punched a puck over the line at 7:45 of the first period. Kevin DeVergilio answered for the Steelheads with a snap shot from the left circle that beat Victoria?s David Shantz. Mark Derlago and Kyle Radke were credited with assists on DeVergilio?s seventh of the season at 12:44. The Steelheads netted the only goal of the second period at 5:10 when Sergei Korostin took a puck in the slot and fired it top-shelf on Shantz to give Idaho a 2-1 lead. Mark Derlago and Guillaume Monast assisted on the goal. The third period was controlled by Victoria, who netted four goals in the period en route to the 5-2 win. Gary Gladue tied the game on a point shot at 6:13, and Wes Goldie netted a pair of power play goals and an empty-netter for the natural hat trick to close out the Steelheads. Rejean Beauchemin stopped 31 of 35 shots in the loss for Idaho; he is now 12-6-1. David Shantz, the starter for the National Conference in the upcoming ECHL All-Star Game, stopped 28 of 30 shots; he is 13-3-3. The Steelheads and Salmon Kings wrap-up the two-game set tomorrow night. The puck drops at 8:05 MST.