Vause, Nigro lift Idaho past Colorado

Loveland, CO (10/26/13) - Taylor Vause picked goaltender Adam Brown's pocket and turned it into a short-handed goal midway through the third period Saturday night, helping the Idaho Steelheads defeat the Colorado Eagles, 5-4, at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, CO. It was one of two short-handed markers on the night for Idaho (2-2), who got multi-point games from Vause (two goals), Anthony Nigro (two goals), Tommy Grant (goal, assist) and William Rapuzzi (two assists) in the win. It was a short-handed tally three minutes into the game that got Idaho off and running. David deKastrozza created a turnover along the left-wing boards in the neutral zone, which turned into a two-on-one rush. deKastrozza fed Nigro in the slot, who banged home his third goal of the season at 3:29 of the first period - Idaho first goal in the opening frame this season - to take a 1-0 lead. The lead would grow to 2-0 early in the second when Grant finished a Rapuzzi centering feed with a wrister from the slot at 4:32, but Colorado would answer with goals from Luke Fulghum and Kevin Young to tie the game up with five minutes left in the second period. Idaho would answer, though, on another Rapuzzi centering feed, this one from behind the net to the top of the crease where Nigro tapped home his second of the night (fourth of the season) at 17:11 of the second to put Idaho up, 3-2. Ray Sawada tied the game at 6:25 of the third with a re-direction on the power play, but Idaho would answer on the power play at 9:01 of the third with a shot from just inside the right circle from Vause off a Brock Montgomery feed to once again put Idaho back on top by one, 4-3. Then, at 12:36 of the third, Vause made the play of the night. With Colorado on the power play, Idaho cleared the puck in on Brown. Brown settled the puck, but a hustling Vause took it away from him, spun out in front of the net, and beat Brown before he could get back in the net for the short-handed goal that gave Idaho a 5-3 lead with less than eight minutes left. Fulghum would get Colorado back within one at 12:52, but Idaho would hold on thanks to a series of big saves from Pat Nagle and a key shot block by defenseman Tyler Elbrecht inside the final five seconds. Nagle had 33 saves on 37 shots to pick up his first win of the season. Brown took the loss, allowing five goals on 21 shots. Idaho was 1-4 on the power play while Colorado was 2-5. The team returns home November 1 to host the Ontario Reign at CenturyLink Arena. Tickets are available by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office at 208-331-8497. COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME - Taylor Vause (2G) CENTURYLINK THREE STARS:1) Taylor Vause (ID)2) Luke Fuhlgum (COL)3) Anthony Nigro (ID) 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.