Early Scoring, Strong Defense Lead Steelheads To 6-3 Win Over Oilers

BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Steelheads (33-17-4) notched early scoring and a career-high 51 saves for Tomas Sholl en route to a 6-3 win over the Tulsa Oilers (30-20-6) on Friday night from CenturyLink Arena.

The Steelheads put themselves in a good position early in the contest for the second-straight game with the game’s opening goal. At 4:38, Steelheads forward Zach Franko slotted a shot from the right circle after a progression along the wall for his first professional goal and a 1-0 lead. Steelheads forward Elgin Pearce then set up defenseman Brady Norrish for an open shot in the right circle on a 2-on-1 rush at 13:51, doubling the lead to 2-0.

Like their previous game, the Steelheads scored twice in the opening seven minutes of the second period starting this time at 4:09 when Norrish fired a blue line shot through a screen, tripling the lead to 3-0. Steelheads forward Henrik Samuelsson found the puck on a rebound in the left circle on the team’s first power play at 6:12 and placed it into the open net for a 4-0 Steelheads advantage. The Oilers got on the board at 12:43 on a poke by forward Jared Thomas to halt the shutout bid, but Samuelsson later cleaned up a play set up by forward Mitch Moroz at 18:19, spreading the lead back to four at 5-1.

The Oilers started to chip away in the third period with two goals in 63 seconds starting at 2:33 with a goal from forward Alex Globke followed by defenseman Eric Drapluk at 3:36, cutting the lead down to 5-3. However, Steelheads defenseman Charlie Dodero answered on the power play at 5:46 with a slap shot from the right circle to quell the momentum and take a 6-3 advantage, leading to the 6-3 win.

Steelheads netminder Tomas Sholl (19-9-0) turns away a career-high 51 saves on 54 shots in the win, while Oilers goaltender Keegan Asmundson (2-6-1) stopped 22 of 28 shots in the loss.

The Steelheads and Oilers finish their 10-game season series on Saturday, Feb. 23 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.