We Meet Again: The Steelheads are back on home ice this week for a three-game home stand, a series with the defending Kelly Cup champion Colorado Eagles. It’s the Steelheads’ first meeting with the Eagles since last April, when Colorado eliminated the Steelheads from the first round of the playoffs in a five-game series. The Steelheads are hoping to snap a four-game winless streak after falling in overtime and in the shootout during their visit to the Quad Cities. The Eagles won six straight to open the season but suffered their first defeat on Saturday against the Rapid City Rush.
Waiting for a Bounce: Idaho had no puck luck in Moline against the Mallards, an unfortunate early-season trend. The Steelheads are averaging the most shots per game in the ECHL this season, but scoring the fewest goals per game in the league as well. The Steelheads have a team shooting percentage of 5.7 percent, more than two full percentage points lower than the next lowest team. The Steelheads hope they can break through against a Colorado team that has given up the fourth fewest goals per game.
No-vertime: The Steelheads have gone 0-for-3 to start the season in games going beyond 60 minutes. The Steelheads fell 3-2 in a shootout on Friday despite firing 59 shots on goal, one shy of their all-time team high in the ECHL era. The Steelheads had 48 shots the next night in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Mallards. The Steelheads were 2-5 in overtime last season, but 6-2 in the shootout.
New Faces with Great Paces: The line of Brady Brassart, Justin Parizek, and Steve McParland remains Idaho’s most productive, with the rookie Parizek netting four goals and seven points in his last six games and McParland scoring a power play goal in Saturday night. Parizek is tied for sixth in rookie scoring, and a member of that line has scored a goal in every game this season except for Idaho’s shutout loss to Utah on October 21st.
Unbeaten Beginning: Philippe Desrosiers is unbeaten in his first four games of the season, going 2-0-2 with a .920 save percentage.
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