Klassen's five points lifts Idaho past Colorado

(Loveland, CO) ? Chad Klassen's career-best five points helped the Idaho Steelheads survive Friday night, beating the Colorado Eagles, 7-5, in a wild contest in Loveland, CO. Klassen finished the game with a goal and four assists for Idaho (7-8-3). The Steelheads would strike three times in the first frame. For the second consecutive night, David Fredriksson got the game's first tally from the left-hand circle. Last night it was on a rebound, tonight it was on a nice feed from Marty Flichel at the 4:30 mark. Fredriksson would return the favor eight minutes later, feeding the puck to Flichel in the high slot for Flichel's fourth of the season. Klassen also picked up a helper on the Flichel goal, as well as Ian Lowe's sixth of the season on the power play at the 16:40 mark of the first period, as Idaho took a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. With Chris Hepp serving the first of a league-mandated two-game suspension, Idaho had just four natural defensemen in the lineup. Late in the first, Steve Oleksy picked up a ten-minute misconduct penalty, reducing the number of blue-liners available for Idaho to just three and Colorado took advantage, scoring three times with Oleksy in the penalty box to even the score. Idaho hung tough, though, taking the lead back on Kael Mouillierat's ninth of the season midway through the second on a wild scramble in front of the Colorado net. Patrick Cey tied it up for the Eagles early in the third, but Idaho re-established the lead with two goals on the same power play midway through the final frame. First, Klassen scored with Idaho on a 5-on-3 advantage. Then, still holding a 5-on-4 power play, Klassen fed Jacob Cepis for his fifth of the season to put Idaho on top, 6-4. Jon Landry made things interesting with a goal at 16:05 of the third to cut Idaho's lead to one, but an empty-net goal credited to Matt Case with just over a minute to go sealed the win for the Steelheads. Besides Klassen's five-point night (1 goal, 4 assists), the Steelheads also got four points from Marty Flichel (1 goal, 3 assists) and two points each from Kael Mouillierat and David Fredriksson. Jimmy Spratt saved 40 of 45 shots in net for Idaho. Kyle Jones stopped just two of five in the first frame for Colorado before giving way to Andrew Penner, who was credited with 11 saves on 14 shots. Idaho converted 3 of 7 power plays, while Colorado was 1-5 on the man advantage. Idaho and Colorado will play Saturday night in Loveland. Both games can be heard on KTIK-AM (1350) in the Treasure Valley. The Steelheads return home on December 7 to begin a homestand against Colorado. Tickets are available by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office (208.331.TIXS) or by logging on to www.idahosteelheads.com. COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME - Chad Klassen AQUA FINA "3 STARS" - (1) Chad Klassen (ID) (2) Marty Flichel (ID) (3) Jon Landry (COL) Steelhead Season-Ticket Holders get six games FREE when they sign up for full-season packages. Fans can still get pro-rated full-season tickets for the remaining 30 home games, starting at less than $275 per seat. Partial-season plans are also available. Contact the Steelheads front office at 208.383.0080 or log on to www.idahosteelheads.com for more information.