BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Steelheads (31-17-3) jumped ahead first, and the early scoring aided them in a 2-1 win over the Rapid City Rush (20-25-8) on Friday night from CenturyLink Arena in front of a crowd of 5,129 fans, the ninth sellout of the season. The Steelheads now take the season series with six games remaining.
After a scoreless but relentless first period, the Steelheads cashed in on the first shift of the second period. At 0:36, Steelheads forward Kale Kessy took a shot from the right wall that kicked to forward Henrik Samuelsson, who patiently waited for a lane to open and got the game’s opening goal for the second-straight night for the 1-0 lead.
The deciding goal came for the Steelheads at 8:17 of the third period when forward Elgin Pearce snapped a shot from the right circle in-transition just under the crossbar, doubling the lead at 2-0. The Rush answered at 12:30 with a chop shot by forward Pierre-Luc Mercier to cut the lead in half, 2-1. Despite pulling the goaltender late, the Rush ran out of the time as the Steelheads took the 2-1 victory.
Steelheads goaltender Tomas Sholl (17-9-0) turned away 22 of 23 shots in the win, while Rush netminder Tyler Parks (4-6-2) saved 30 of 32 shots in the loss.
The Steelheads and Rush finish their three-game weekend on Saturday, Feb. 16 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.
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