Early Goals Set Back Steelheads in 6-4 Loss to Americans

BOISE, Idaho – The Idaho Steelheads (11-8-4) fell behind early and could not recover in a 6-4 loss to the Allen Americans (15-4-2) on Wednesday night from CenturyLink Arena.

The Americans started scoring early and often at 4:10 of the first period on a good hop to forward Olivier Archambault off the right post to take a 1-0 lead. They added a second tally on a 2-on-1 finished by forward Brett Pollock at 8:03 to double the advantage, 2-1. The Steelheads got on the board at 10:53 when forward Will Merchant came high in the slot and slung a shot under the crossbar to initially cut the lead in half at 2-1. Then, the Americans added two more before the end of the frame at 12:18 from forward Gabriel Gagne and at 16:25 from forward Jared VanWormer to take a 4-1 lead into the intermission.

One more cane for the Americans early in the second period at 1:36 when Gagne nabbed his second goal of the night, which spread the lead to its largest of the evening, 5-1. The Steelheads limited the damage in the second and third periods and looked to gain momentum in the final frame.

In the third period, the Steelheads struck first at 1:12 on a turnover forced by Merchant to lead forward Brett Supinski in low and get the home side back on the board, 5-2. After Archambault added his second goal at 11:59 for the Americans, the Steelheads made a game of it late starting with a coast-to-coast goal from defenseman Ondrej Vala at 13:53 to come within three, 6-3. Supinski added his second goal at 18:55 on a jam attempt off the left post, but the deficit was too tall to climb in the eventual 6-4 loss.

Americans goaltender Zach Sawchenko (5-1-1) turned away 30 of 34 shots in the win, while Steelheads netminder Tomas Sholl (9-4-3) halted 17 of 23 shots in the loss.

The Steelheads and Americans meet again on Friday, Dec. 6 at 7:10 p.m. from CenturyLink Arena. Tickets are available by calling 208-331-TIXS(8497) or going online to idahosteelheads.com. Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on 1350 KTIK-AM and at 7:00 p.m. on Sparklight Ch. 72 as well as ECHL.tv.

Call the Steelheads Front Office at 208-383-0080 to plan your seats for this season, including single-game, flex plans and season tickets. Stay connected to the Steelheads on idahosteelheads.com or by following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.