Steelheads sweep home-and-home with Grizzlies

Andre-Bouvet Morrissette had his second two-goal game in as many nights and Shawn Bates netted the game winner as the Steelheads staved off a three-goal Grizzlies comeback and held on for a 4-3 win at the Utah Olympic Oval.

 The Steelheads jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead courtesy of tallies from Rob Linsmayer, Andrew Panzarella and Bouvet-Morrissette. Bouvet-Morrissette also netted a goal in the practice 3-on-3 overtime period.

 “I think we’re going to be a team that plays hard and plays fast all the time,” said Bouvet-Morrissette. “We have some good character on the team right now, and we’ll build on that and get ready for next Friday.”

 Linsmayer and Bouvet-Morrissette have combined for six goals in six periods, plus overtime.

 “It’s been nice to see guys get rewarded for hard work. Every time we play the right way, we’re getting on the right side of pucks and getting rewarded,” said Head Coach Neil Graham. “We need to stick with it, enjoy it, and then come back hard Monday and get ready for next week.”

 The Grizzlies pulled back into the contest behind another multi-goal game by Barry Almeida, his second in two nights, and a tying marker by Josh MacDonald at 5:02 of the third period. Yet the Steelheads regained the lead when Bates found a rebound at the side of the net and buried the game-winner in his preseason debut.

 The Steelhead penalty kill was 3-for-4 on the night, the one goal against coming from MacDonald just as a 4-on-4 turned into a Grizzlies power play. But the penalty killers stood strong to negate a Too Many Men penalty in the final five minutes and hang on for the 4-3 regulation win.

 “Once they tied it up in the third, we looked at ourselves in the mirror and guys stepped up,” said Graham. “We turned the momentum around, played well, and I thought it was a full team effort.”

 Eric Hartzell made 11 saves on 12 shots in one period of work in his Steelheads debut. Chris Rawlings took over between the pipes for the final two periods, stopping 24 of 26 shots.

 The Steelheads return to practice on Monday as they prepare for their regular season opener on Friday night against the Rapid City Rush at CenturyLink Arena.

Season tickets are on sale now with full-season packages starting as low as $275 per seat for all 36 home games.  Partial-season packagesare also available.  Contact the Idaho Steelheads at 208-383-0080 for more information or log on to www.idahosteelheads.com.