Penalty-killers rise to occasion in 5-3 win

Loveland, CO (4/7/13) - The Idaho Steelheads killed off three penalties in the third period while nursing a slim lead and then got late insurance goals from Tyler Gron and Chase Schaber in a hard-fought, 5-3 victory over the Colorado Eagles on Sunday night. Idaho now leads the best-of-seven series, three games to one, with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday night in Colorado. The Steelheads would net a pair of goals in the first period to take the lead. First, it was Gron snapping the puck past Adam Brown off a Schaber face-off win at 16:51 of the first to make it 1-0. Then, less than two minutes later, Adrian Foster struck on the power play with a nifty goal from the top of the crease at 18:37 of the period to extend the lead to 2-0. Colorado would respond with one of its strongest periods of the series, scoring twice early in the second to even things up. Collin Bowman scored even-strength at 6:47 and Kevin Ulanski scored on the power play at 8:37 to tie the game at two goals apiece. With the score tied at 2, Colorado found themselves on a 5-on-3 power play for nearly a full minute. The Idaho penalty killers managed to kill off the 5-on-3 and the remaining 5-on-4 time to change momentum for the final minutes of the second. The Steelheads would take the lead at 18:39 of the second on a beautiful feed from Austin Fyten in the left-hand corner to Austin Smith on top of the crease. Smith tapped it home to give Idaho the lead back at 3-2 after two periods. In the third, the Steelheads were whistled for penalties at 4:22 and 6:47, giving Colorado's explosive power play unit two chances on the man-advantage to tie the score. But each time, spearheaded by goaltender Tyler Beskorowany, Idaho killed it off. Idaho would net a big insurance goal when Schaber would jab home the rebound off a Tyler Gron shot at 10:27 of the third, making it 4-2, before the team would kill off another Eagle power play. Gron would provide another big insurance goal at 17:21 of the third with a wrister from the right circle, his second goal of the night (third of the postseason) extended Idaho's lead to 5-2. Colorado would score a meaningless goal in the final minute to cut Idaho's margin of victory to two goals at 5-3, the first game in the series not decided by one goal. Beskorowany picked up the win in net for Idaho, stopping 29 of 32 shots. Brown took the loss, surrendering five goals on 25 shots. Idaho's power play unit finished the game 1-4 while the penalty kill stopped six of seven power-play opportunities for Colorado. Game 5 is back in Loveland on Sunday, starting at 7:10 PM. The Steelheads and CenturyLink Arena will once again offer a free "watch party" at the SportZone, with the doors opening at 6 PM. COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME - Tyler Gron CENTURYLINK THREE STARS: 1) Tyler Gron (ID) 2) Chase Schaber (ID) 3) Trent Daavatilla (COL) 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.