PREVIEW: IDAHO STEELHEADS (28-14-3) @ ALLEN AMERICANS (15-29-5)

SATURDAY, FEB. 2, 2019 | 6:05 P.M.ALLEN EVENT CENTER | ALLEN, TXRADIO: 93.1FM KTIK | STREAM: ECHL TV

Tonight’s Game: The Steelheads finish their six-game season series with the Allen Americans from Allen Event Center.

Head-To-Head: The Steelheads have earned at least a share of the season series thanks to their win last night and now have a chance to win the six-game season series outright for the second time in the last three seasons. The win was also the first regulation win for the Steelheads against the Americans this season. Last season, the Steelheads split their 10-game season schedule, and overall the they own a 13-7-3 record in their franchise series.

Last Night: The Steelheads weathered a turbulent second period and took a 6-3 win over the Americans on Friday night from Allen Event Center. Steelheads forwards Alex Dahl (13:25 1st) and Elgin Pearce (13:37 1st) scored on back-to-back shots to quickly double the lead to 2-0. Americans forward Zach Pochiro (PP, 1:06 2nd) answered back before Dahl (1:22 2nd) spread the lead again to 3-1. Americans forwards Riley Bourbonnais (SH, 2:53 2nd) and Alex Ranger (3:44 2nd) added to a high-scoring frame to tie the game, 3-3. The Steelheads closed out the game with three more goals starting with forward Reid Petryk (PP, 12:13 2nd) to edge ahead 4-3 before two empty net goals from defenseman Keegan Kanzig (EN, 18:42 3rd) and Pearce (EN, 19:59 3rd), sealing the 6-3 win. Ryan Faragher (7-3-1) halted 21 of 24 shots in the win, while C.J. Motte (13-13-5) saved 29 of 33 shots in the loss.

Road Tripping: The Steelheads just passed the midway game of their season-long nine-game, three-week road trip with a win and continuing an up-and-down pattern. So far, the Steelheads own a 3-2-0 record and have won the odd-numbered games of their road trip to this point. Last night’s win was their second win of exactly three goals, and the Steelheads have only trailed in shots once while averaging 34.60 shots per game. The Steelheads are now 12-9-1 on the road this season with a 8-6-0 record against teams remaining on the road trip (Allen, Utah). The Steelheads have won four of their last seven games on the road, all coming in 2019.

Double The Fun: The Steelheads had another two-goal scorer in last night’s game with both Alex Dahl and Elgin Pearce obtaining a pair of tallies. It’s the second time this season that the Steelheads have had two multi-goal scorers in a single night, joining the two-goal evenings for Tony Calderone and Kale Kessy on December 28 in Rapid City (9-1 W). Overall, the Steelheads have had 18 different instances of two-goal nights without a hat-trick spread across eight players with Dahl boasting two within the last 30 days (Jan. 19 & Feb. 1, both against Allen) and Pearce earning his first of the season last night. Reid Petryk leads the team with four multi-goal games.

Powering Up: The Steelheads power play has rekindled the earlier fire of the season with now goals in three-straight games thanks to Reid Petryk’s tally in the second period, proving to be the game-winning goal. In their last three games, the Steelheads are 3-for-17 (17.6%) and own their first three-game streak since going five-straight games from December 22 through January 5 (11-for-24, 45.8%). While their numbers have floated around 19 percent and actually dropped to 19.3%, the Steelheads still sit in the top-10 in power play percentage, a place they’ve been since the early portion of the second quarter this season.

Finishing Touches: Steelheads forwards Brad McClure, Steve McParland and Reid Petryk have found the finishing blow against opponents consistently since the late games in December into February thanks to Petryk’s game-winning goal. Since December 31, eight of the team’s 10 wins have come on the stick of one of those three players with Petryk and McParland sharing the most at three but McClure picking up two of the team’s last four winners. All three sit atop the team in game-winning goals with McClure (5) and Petryk (5) leading the way and McParland (3) sitting right behind them with a shootout winner included in his total.

Good Bourbon(nais): The Americans have found life from forward Riley Bourbonnais during their recent uptick in point production both in general scoring and goals. The Rochester, N.Y. product has opened up another three-game point streak, his second in his last seven games, with five points (2g, 3a) in that stretch. Since January 11, he owns 14 points (6g, 8a) through 11 games while recording both of his shorthanded goals and leading the pace for the Americans’ run of a 6-2-3 record in that same stretch. On the season, Bourbonnais owns 26 points (12g, 14a) through 33 games between Maine and Allen with 18 points (8g, 10a) in 19 games with the Americans.

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDINGS:

Next Game: The Steelheads head to Maverik Center on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 7:05 p.m. to open a three-game weekend against the Utah Grizzlies. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on 1350AM KITK and ECHL TV.