Late collapse costs Steelheads in Utah

(West Valley City, UT) - The Utah Grizzlies scored three times in a span of 2:45 late in the third period, rallying from a four-goal deficit to defeat the Idaho Steelheads, 5-4, in a shootout. Idaho (20-19-2-3) led the game, 4-1, with less than seven minutes to go before Utah scored three times to knot the game up with two of the goals coming off bad breaks in Idaho's defensive zone. Things started great for Idaho, with Jacob Cepis getting Idaho on the board 3:05 into the game. His 16th of the season was the only goal of the first period. Idaho grew the lead in the second period, first on a beautiful offensive-zone move by Chad Nehring at the 54-secong mark of the frame as he deked Andrew Engelage badly and tucked the forehand into a vacant net for his eighth of the season. Tommy Lange made it 3-0 in favor of the Steelheads on a shot from the left-hand circle over Engelage's shoulder and Cepis made it 4-0 at 11:05 of the second, a short-handed tally when the puck went off Utah's Mitch Wahl past Engelage. Utah got one back on the power play at 17:04 of the second on the power play, but Idaho stifled the Grizzlies for the better part of the second period. With 14:30 gone by in the final frame and Idaho on top, 4-1, the game changed on a Kory Falite slap shot off an Idaho leg pad. The slap shot, however, ricocheted right into the slot in front of the Idaho net where Wahl flipped the puck past a surprised Jerry Kuhn to make it 4-2. Thirty seconds later, another bad bounce gave Logan MacMillan a tap-in from the right-hand side of the crease to make it 4-3. Then, at 17:15, Wahl slipped a shot between Kuhn's legs to tie the game at 4. Neither team scored in the overtime session and Utah got shootout goals from Falite and Paul McIlveen to steal the second point in the standings. Kuhn saved 50 of 54 shots in the loss for Idaho, his third game of at least 50 saves this season - the first three 50-save games in the team's ECHL history. Engelage stopped 27 of 31 in the win for Utah. Idaho was 0-2 on the power play, while Utah went 1-5 with the man advantage. Cepis (two goals), Lange (one goal, one assist), and Kory Scoran (two assists) all had multipe-point nights for Idaho. Idaho returns home on February 8 to host the defending Kelly Cup champion Alaska Aces. 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 - Kory Scoran AQUA FINA "3 STARS" - (1) Andrew Engelage (UT) (2) Jerry Kuhn (ID) (3) Mitch Wahl (UT) Group outings at a Steelheads game are a great way to gather friends, colleagues, or co-workers for a fun night out in downtown Boise. Ticket prices are discounted and you can get a Pepsi, Double-R Ranch Hot Dog, and bag of Tim?s Cascade Chips with each ticket. Contact the Steelheads front office at 208.383.0080 or log on to www.idahosteelheads.com for more information.