Late rally for naught as Steelheads fall in OT

Loveland, CO (11/7/14) – Collin Bowman's wrist shot from just inside the blue line less than 30 seconds into overtime foiled a spirited Idaho Steelheads rally and allowed the Colorado Eagles to escape with a 3-2 victory on Friday night at the Budweiser Events Center.

The late rally allowed the Idaho (6-2-1, 13 points) to gather one point in the standings, but Colorado (7-2-0, 14 points) picked up the second point with the OT winner.

Idaho nearly took the lead twice in the opening stanza but a James Livingston shot rang off the post from the left-wing circle and Colorado goaltender Kent Simpson denied Alex Belzile on a breakaway to keep the game even at 0-0 after one period.  Right off the hop in the second, Colorado's Darryl Bootland skated across the ice to engage Idaho's Charlie Dodero in a fight, taking both players off the ice for five minutes.  With Dodero serving his fighting major, Idaho was assessed another penalty to put Colorado on the power play and Derek Rodwell converted at 3:27 of the first for a 1-0 lead.  Moments later, Colorado was given another man advantage and converted again as Jonathan Parker scored at 5:20 to make it a 2-0 lead.  Idaho twice nearly cut into the lead as Wade MacLeod hit a post and Simpson again denied Belzile on a prime scoring opportunity at the left-wing post as Colorado took a 2-0 lead into the third.

The Steelheads continued to press in the third, continuing to out-chance the Eagles, finally breaking through with just under seven and a half minutes left to play in regulation.  A Matt Case point shot was kicked aside by Simpson, but Livingston (pictured) was waiting for the rebound goal at 17:36 to cut Colorado's lead to 2-1.  Then, four minutes later, Idaho out-worked the Eagles for another rebound goal as Livingston's initial shot was knocked home by Jesse Root, his fourth, at 17:36 to even the score at 2-2.

With less than a minute to play in regulation, each Idaho and Colorado were assessed a penalty as the teams ended the game skating four-on-four.  The two teams opened overtime playing three-on-three as a result of the penalties.  Simpson gloved down a Jason Bast shot to draw an offensive zone face-off for Idaho.  Greg Gardner won the face-off back to Bowman, who skated up ice and sent a wrist shot past Henri Kiviaho just 28 seconds into the extra session to pick up the win for the Eagles.

Kiviaho took the loss for Idaho, stopping 19 of 22 shots.  Simpson got the win for the Eagles, stopping 31 of 33 shots.  Idaho was 0-3 on the power play while Colorado was 2-6.

The two teams wrap up their three-game set on Saturday night.  Game time is 7:05 PM and can be heard live on KTIK 1350 AM.

Idaho returns home on Tuesday, November 11, to host the Alaska Aces at CenturyLink Arena.  Tickets are available online at www.idahosteelheads.com or by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office at 331-8497.

COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME –  James Livingston (G/A)

CENTURYLINK THREE STARS:1)   Collin Bowman (COL)2)   Jonathan Parker (COL)3)   Derek Rodwell (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 Chips with each ticket. Contact the Steelheads front office at 208.383.0080 or log on to www.idahosteelheads.com for more information.