Early Period Starts Elevate Steelheads in 5-2 Win Over Oilers

BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Steelheads (32-17-4) scored early in back-to-back periods, helping them to a 5-2 win over the Tulsa Oilers (30-19-6) on Wednesday night from CenturyLink Arena.

The Steelheads jumped out early on the first shot of the night at 0:28 of the first period when forward A.J. White took a slap shot from an odd corner bounce to take a 1-0 lead. The Steelheads doubled their lead, 2-0, at 6:16 after a pass by forward Mitch Moroz found forward Kyle Schempp for a drag and shot in the left circle that snuck underneath the crossbar.

Another pair of early goals to start a period benefits the Steelheads in the second frame. At 1:59, defenseman Geoff Crisfield floated a shot from the blue line to earn his first ECHL goal and triple the lead to 3-0. The lead spread further to 4-0 on a shot by Steelheads forward Reid Petryk from the left circle at 6:08 that fluttered under the crossbar. The Oilers got a goal back at 11:32 on a power play tally by forward Adam Pleskach, cutting the lead to 4-1.

The Oilers started to crawl back into the game with a goal at 2:26 of the third period from forward Steven Ammirato, cutting the lead in half at 4-2. However, a late empty net goal by Steelheads forward Kale Kessy at 18:10 put the game away in the 5-2 win. Steelheads goaltender Tomas Sholl (18-9-0) halted 38 of 40 shots in the win, while Oilers netminder Keegan Asmundson (2-5-1) stopped 26 of 30 shots in the loss.

The Steelheads and Oilers meet again on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7:10 p.m. from CenturyLink Arena. Tickets are available by calling the Steelheads at 208-383-0080 or going online to idahosteelheads.com. Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on 1350AM KTIK and at 7:00 p.m. on CableOne Channel 72 and ECHL.TV.Single-game tickets and season ticket packages are on sale, with full-season packages starting as low as $300 per seat. Contact the Idaho Steelheads at 208-383-0080 for more information or log on to idahosteelheads.com.