Steelheads Fall Behind Early, Lose in Vegas

The Idaho Steelheads (12-8-6) fell behind by a pair of goals in the first 11 minutes, and the Las Vegas Wranglers (14-6-2) never looked back as the Steelheads fell in Vegas by a 4-1 score. Kael Mouillierat's five-game point-scoring streak was snapped in the loss, as the Steelheads now have just one win to show for their last five games. The Wranglers opened the scoring when Blair Riley capitalized on an Idaho turnover at 8:39 of the first period. Less than two minutes later, Geoff Paukovich banged a puck home from directly in front of Jase Weslosky's net at the Idaho end to give the Wranglers an early 2-0 lead. The lone goal of the second period came courtesy of the Wranglers' Jamie Bates on the power play; Bates snapped a wrist shot from the right circle to beat Weslosky. John-Scott Dickson gave Idaho life early in the third period when he poked a puck home out of a scramble in front of the Wranglers' net at 1:12 of the final period; Dickson's goal was his sixth, and Cody Purves assisted. The Wranglers, though, would hold the Steelheads to just the one goal, and would answer to regain a three-goal lead when Greg Collins scored top-shelf on Weslosky at 14:39. Weslosky stopped 38 of 42 shots in the loss; he is now 1-2-0 for Idaho. Michael Ouzas stopped 34 of 35 shots; he is 10-3-1 for Las Vegas. The Steelheads and Wranglers play a Sunday matinee in Las Vegas tomorrow; the puck drops at 3:00 PM MST. Idaho plays a pair in Utah on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a pair in Anchorage on December 28th and 29th. Idaho returns home to host Bakersfield on December 31st and January 1st.