Steelheads complete preseason sweep of Grizzlies

Boise, ID (10/7/17) – Five different Steelheads found the scoresheet during Saturday night’s preseason finale at CenturyLink Arena, as the Idaho Steelheads skated to 5-2 win in front of 3,555 fans to complete a weekend sweep of the Utah Grizzlies.

Idaho scored all five goals in the first two periods, jumping out to a two goal lead and never looking back while firing 29 shots on the night. Joe Faust opened the scoring at 4:39 of the first period with a shot from the right wing past the glove of Utah goaltender Gordon Defiel. Exactly one minute later, Henrik Samuelsson expanded the lead with a one-timer from the left side off of a feed from Jefferson Dahl on a 3-on-1 rush.

After Charley Graaskamp scored at 1:21 of the second period to get Utah on the board, Idaho answered back with a rebound goal from Mitch Moroz off of an Aaron Harstad point shot just under three minutes later to make it 3-1. At 8:24, Brady Brassart used his skate to direct a Justin Parizek pass over the goal line for a 4-1 Steelheads lead.

The ECHL is experimenting with video review in select arenas during the preseason, including CenturyLink Arena. The officials reviewed Brassart’s tally and determined it to be a good goal.

Ryan Olsen brought the Grizzlies within two with a goal at 9:44 of the second period. But with just under five minutes left in the middle frame, Max French would cap the scoring on a power play one-timer from the left circle.

Dahl, Parizek, and Tommy Thompson all had two assists on the night. Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers made 31 saves while playing all three periods between the pipes.

The Steelheads and Grizzlies combined for 108 penalty minutes, buoyed by two fights between Reid Halabi and Travis Howe. The Steelheads were 7-for-7 on the penalty kill.

The Steelheads will open their regular-season schedule next Friday on home ice when they host the Norfolk Admirals for the first of two contests. Puck-drop for the season-opener is scheduled for 7:10pm MT, with the game broadcast on 1350 KTIK, Cable One, and on ECHLTV.