BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Steelheads (41-24-5) finished the home portion of the 2018-19 regular season with a 3-1 win over the Utah Grizzlies (35-26-9) on Friday night from CenturyLink Arena in front of 5,229 fans, the 17th sellout of the regular season.
After a scoreless but physical first period, scoring picked up in the second period with both teams cashing in on the power play. At 12:53, Grizzlies defenseman Kevin Davis opened the scoring with a power play goal from the blue line to jump out to a 1-0 lead. The Steelheads cashed in on just their second power play attempt of the night at 18:57 when forward A.J. White flipped a shot off the back of netminder Kevin Carr from behind the net and banked the puck in, tying the game at 1-1.
The Steelheads jumped ahead in the third period and found the game-winning goal at 12:59 when defenseman Jeff King stepped up into play and rifled a shot from the right circle, taking the lead at 2-1. Steelheads forward Spencer Naas finished the night with an empty net goal at 19:12 to ensure the 3-1 win over the Grizzlies.
Steelheads goaltender Tomas Sholl (26-12-0) turned aside 23 of 24 shots in the win. Grizzlies netminder Kevin Carr stopped 20 of 21 shots in 38:56 minutes, and Alex Leclerc (0-1-0) halted 9 of 10 shots in 19:55 minutes.
The Steelheads and Grizzlies head to Maverik Center to continue their three-game series on Saturday, Apr. 6 at 7:05 p.m. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on 1350 KTIK-AM “The Ticket” and ECHL.TV.
The Steelheads open the 2019 U.S. Bank Kelly Cup Playoffs, presented by SmileDirectClub, on Friday, Apr. 12 and Saturday, Apr. 13 at 7:10 p.m. from CenturyLink Arena. Tickets throughout the postseason are on sale now! For series-long or individual tickets, contact Idaho Steelheads at 208-383-0080 for more information or log on to idahosteelheads.com.
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