Late Power Play Dooms Steelheads in 4-2 Loss to Thunder

BOISE, Idaho – A late power play sunk the Idaho Steelheads (35-21-4) in a 4-2 loss to the Wichita Thunder (23-28-9) on Friday night from CenturyLink Arena in front of 5,213 fans, the 13th sellout of the season.

The Thunder grabbed the opening two goals of the night on the first period starting at 4:42 when forward Jason Salvaggio pushed in the rebound off the left post to take a 1-0 lead. Thunder forward Corey Kalk scored from the right circle at 11:12 to double the lead, 2-0, before the end of the frame.

In the second period, the Steelheads took over in all facets of the game. Scoring began at 8:46 of the frame with a blue line shot on the power play from Steelheads defenseman Nolan Gluchowski with the help of a well-timed screen, cutting the deficit in half, 2-1. Steelheads forward Spencer Naas followed up with a shot in the high slot in-transition at 11:30 to erase the deficit and tie the game at 2-2.

The Thunder took advantage of two late power plays to pull ahead. At 14:53, Thunder forward Dyson Stevenson deflected a shot in front of the net on a rebound to edge ahead, 3-2. Then, at 19:01, Thunder forward Quentin Shore scored into an empty net to seal the 4-2 win.

Thunder netminder Dylan Wells (11-5-2) turned away 34 of 36 shots in the win. Steelheads goaltender Colton Point halted three of five shots in 11:12 minutes, and Ryan Faragher (7-6-2) was saddled with the loss while saving 21 of 22 shots.

The Steelheads close Pink in the Rink weekend on Saturday, Mar. 9 at 7:10 p.m. from CenturyLink Arena to end the season set with the Thunder. Tickets are available by calling 208-383-0080 or going online to idahosteelheads.com. Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on 1350 KTIK “The Ticket” and at 7:00 p.m. on Cable One Ch. 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.