Idaho wins fourth straight

(Stockton, CA) ? Evan Barlow scored two first-period goals and Tyler Beskorowany stopped 35 of 36 shots in net as the Idaho Steelheads defeated the Stockton Thunder Saturday night, 4-1, in front of 8,923 fans in Stockton. Barlow netted both first-period goals, including a strong, one-on-three, short-handed marker as he pushed the puck past Bryan Pitton at the 18:25 mark of the first period, giving Idaho a 2-0 lead after one frame. In the second frame, with Stockton riding momentum, Thunder forward Fraser Clair went after Idaho rookie Tristan King and King, despite not being an experienced fighter, kept his feet nicely against the veteran Clair. Once that dustup was cleared up, Idaho's Adam Huxley evened the score off the ensuing faceoff with a convincing victory over Jesse Gimblett. The back-to-back bouts seemed to slow some of the Thunder's momentum and Idaho's penalty kill went into high gear, dominating Stockton's power play into the third period. Halfway through the third, Stockton capitalized on a fortunate bounce off the boards as Gimblett knocked a free puck past Beskorowany to cut Idaho's lead in half at 2-1. Nine minutes later, just moments after Pitton had vacated the Thunder net, Idaho capitalized on a good bounce of their own, as a Matt Case clearing attempt took a funny bounce off the boards and ricocheted the length of the ice and into the vacated net, giving Idaho a 3-1 lead with just 54 seconds left. Fourteen seconds later, Adam Huxley drove the final nail into the coffin when he finished off a nice feed from Marty Flichel for the game's final goal. Stockton finished the night 1-for-7 on the power play, while Idaho went 0-for-2 with the man advantage. Beskorowany finished the night with 35 saves on 36 shots. Pitton stopped 17 of 20 in net for Stockton. With the win, Beskorowany improves to 8-3-1-3 in net for Idaho. Pitton falls to 14-5-0-2. COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME - Evan Barlow (2 G) AQUA FINA THREE STARS: 1. Tyler Beskorowany (Idaho) 2. Evan Barlow (Idaho) 3. Jesse Gimblett (Stockton)