Steelheads fall in nine-round shootout

Bakersfield, CA (1/2/13) ? Former Steelhead Deron Cousens snapped a forehand shot past Tyler Beskorowany in the ninth round of the shootout as the Bakersfield Condors snuck past the Idaho Steelheads, 2-1, on Wednesday night. Idaho gains one point in the standings by taking the game to a shootout and will bring a record of 20-7-5 into its next game Friday, at home, against Bakersfield. Both goaltenders, Beskorowany for Idaho and Scott Greenham for Bakersfield, were outstanding all night long. Greenham denied Mathieu Tousignant right out of the gates in the first period on a mini-two-on-one rush. Later in the first period, Tyler Beskorowany brilliantly robbed Peter Boyd on a Condor two-on-one rush. Greenham also made fabulous saves on Justin Dowling and Austin Smith in the second period while Beskorowany helped the Steelheads kill off six consecutive minutes of power-play time for the Condors bridging the second and third periods as neither team could find the net until the midway point of the third period. That's when Bakersfield took the lead on a Liam Huculak one-timer from the right-hand circle at 9:54 of the third to take a 1-0 lead. Idaho would even things up on a Tristan King to Austin Fyten to Justin Dowling goal at 13:05 of the third, with Dowling scoring from the bottom edge of the left-hand circle to even things up at 1-1. Neither team could score over the rest of regulation, sending the game to overtime. In overtime, Idaho killed off a two-minute Condor power play and nearly won it on a James Isaacs blast from the high slot, but Greenham made a snow-cone save with about one minute left in overtime. In the shootout, both goaltenders were terrific. King hit a post and Isaacs almost completed a backhand-to-forehand deke, but Greenham kept Idaho out of the net. On the other end, Beskorowany completely shut down the first eight Condor shooters before former Steelhead defenseman Deron Cousens' snap shot from the near the left hash marks beat Beskorowany to end the game. Both goaltenders stopped 36 of 37 during live action, with Greenham going a perfect 9-for-9 in the shootout and Beskorowany went 8-for-9. Neither team scored on the power play, Idaho was 0-5 and Bakersfield was 0-6. The Steelheads return home on January 4 to host Bakersfield at CenturyLink Arena. Tickets are available by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office at 208.331.8497 or by going online at www.idahosteelheads.com COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME - Justin Dowling CENTURYLINK THREE STARS: 1) Deron Cousens (BAK) 2) Scott Greenham (BAK) 3) Liam Huculak (BAK) 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.