Steelheads grind out fourth straight win

Stockton, CA (12/19/14) – Olivier Roy reached back to take the puck off the stick of James Henry inside the game's final five seconds, thwarting the last scoring chance for the Stockton Thunder as the Idaho Steelheads won on the road, 3-2, at Stockton Arena on Friday night.

The win was Idaho's fourth straight and improved the team's record to 17-8-2.  The same two teams play again Saturday (7:30 PM PST) and Sunday (4:00 PM PST).

Idaho netted the game's first two goals on special teams.  First, at 6:34, Ludwig Karlsson snapped a personal nine-game goal drought with a power-play tally when he knocked home a loose puck from the top of the crease.  Karlsson's fourth of the season was assisted by Steve Quailer and Jason Bast.  Then, just under two minutes later, Quailer sprung Bast on a short-handed breakaway.  Bast waited out Phillipe Trudeau before roofing a back-hand shot from in close, his team-leading 16th goal of the season, to give Idaho a 2-0 lead after one period.

In the second, Stockton got an early two-on-none rush toward Roy but the Idaho goaltender made a fabulous first save and Troy Vance hustled back into the play to deny a rebound opportunity.  But the Thunder did cut into the lead at 10:20 of the 2nd on a Sebastian Colberg power-play goal to make it 2-1.  Shortly thereafter, Idaho got an important insurance goal as David deKastrozza knocked a puck down in the neutral zone and fed it ahead to Colton Beck.  Beck and Patterson blasted into the zone, two-on-none, and Beck made Trudeau commit before sliding a pass to Patterson for the easy, tap-in goal at 15:29 to make it 3-1.  The goal, his fifth, gave Patterson a three-game goal streak.

Idaho nursed the two-goal lead from that point before a soft shot from the center point off the stick of Adam Phillips pinballed off bodies and past a helpless Roy at 15:59 of the third, officially credited to Michael Pereira, to once again cut Idaho's lead to one at 3-2.  The Steelheads held off a late Thunder flurry, punctuated by Roy's cover-up at the right-wing post as Henry bid for the game-tying goal in the closing seconds, to pick up the victory.

Roy earned his ECHL-best 14th win by stopping 22 of 24 shots.  Trudeau took the loss, allowing three goals on 23 shots.  Idaho's power-play unit was 1-4 and, though the penalty-kill unit allowed a goal on four Stockton power plays, the team did notch its fifth short-handed goal of the season on Bast's first-period breakaway.

The Steelheads return to home ice the night after Christmas, December 26, to face the same Reign team 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 –  Steve Quailer (2A)

CENTURYLINK THREE STARS:1)   Jason Bast (ID)2)   Sebastian Colberg (STK)3)   Steve Quailer (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 chips with each ticket. Contact the Steelheads front office at 208.383.0080 or log on to www.idahosteelheads.com for more information.