Steelheads Comeback Forces Overtime, Fall 6-5 to Thunder

BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Steelheads (35-21-5) erased four-goal deficit in the final twenty-three minutes but fell 6-5 in overtime to the Wichita Thunder (24-28-9) on Saturday night from CenturyLink Arena in front of 5,222 fans, the 14th sellout of the season.

The Steelheads created numerous scoring opportunities in the first period, and despite many of those not going in their favor, one shot did find a lane. At 11:41, Steelheads defenseman Nolan Gluchowski cut off a clearing pass and slapped a shot from the blue line to find the net, giving the home side a 1-0 lead. The Thunder found a tally of their own from forward Corey Kalk at 16:07 to tie the game at 1-1.

The Thunder scored four-unanswered goals in the second period to take a run in the contest. Thunder forward Ryan Van Stralen scored two one-time goals in front of the net at 4:44 and 6:27 of the second period to immediately double the lead to 3-1. Thunder forward Colin Larkin was fed for a similar goal at 16:11 followed by a slot shot by forward Jason Salvaggio at 16:29, spreading the lead to its largest of the night, 5-1.

After a goaltending change, the Steelheads came back with two swift answers toward the end of the period starting with forward Elgin Pearce at 18:21 down low to stop the scoring run, 5-2. Steelheads forward Mitch Moroz then tipped a shot from the blue line at 19:57, breaking down the lead to just two, 5-3, heading into the third period.

The Steelheads continued to erase the deficit, cutting in with another tally by Pearce at 5:13 of the third period following multiple canceled goals coming earlier, marking the lead to just one at 5-4. Then, at 10:55, Steelheads forward Spencer Naas slips the puck through the legs of the netminder to tie the game, 5-5, and eventually sent both sides into overtime. A hook led to a Thunder penalty shot, and at 2:12 of overtime, Van Stralen completed the hat-trick on that attempt to snag the 6-5 win.

Thunder netminder Dylan Wells (12-5-2) stopped 44 of 49 shots in the win. Steelheads goaltender Ryan Faragher (7-6-2) halted 12 of 17 shots in 36:29 minutes, and Colton Point (5-3-1) saved eight of nine shots in 25:44 minutes of relief.

The Steelheads open a two-week, five-game road trip on Saturday, Mar. 16 at 5:00 p.m. MT against the Orlando Solar Bears from Amway Center. Coverage begins at 4:40 p.m. on 1350 KTIK “The Ticket” and ECHL.TV.

The Steelheads return to CenturyLink Arena on Wednesday, Mar. 27 at 7:10 p.m. to open a three-game weekend against the Rapid City Rush. 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.