Anthony Nellis’ Hat-Trick Sends Steelheads to New Year with 6-5 Overtime Win

ALLEN, Texas – Idaho Steelheads (19-10-5) forward Anthony Nellis netted the first hat-trick of the season to seal off a 6-5 overtime win over the Allen Americans (23-5-6) on Tuesday night from Allen Event Center. The hat-trick is the first since Feb. 11, 2017 when Anthony Luciani pushed in three goals against the Wheeling Nailers.

The Steelheads jumped out with a strong start to the contest and were rewarded with the opening goal. At 6:42, forward Anthony Nellis converted on a blocked shot from the left point on the backhand to take the early 1-0 lead. However, the Americans netted three-unanswered goals with crossing passes connecting with forwards Olivier Archambault at 9:51 and Jordan Topping at 15:21 to snag the lead, 2-1. Americans forward Jared VanWormer added another notch to their lead, 3-1, at 16:35 thanks to a deflection. As the horn sounded for the opening frame, Steelheads forward Marc-Olivier Roy fired a knuckling puck by the netminder for a power play tally and a one-goal game, 4-3,

Both sides combined for two goals within 21 seconds to continue the back-and-forth match. At 8:03, Nellis added his second of the game on a turnover forced by defenseman Jeff King to initially tie the game before Americans forward Alex Guptill came off the bench and converted on the next shift at 8:24 to spring back ahead, 4-3. The Steelheads eventually gained the tying goal, 4-4, at 19:53 thanks to a one-time shot by forward Zack Andrusiak net front.

The Americans looked to seal off the game at 7:23 of the third period with the second from VanWormer on a deflection to edge ahead, 5-4. With the goaltender pulled, the Steelheads found the tying goal at 19:38 when Andrusiak caught the Americans defense frozen for an open shot at net, sending the game to overtime, 5-5.

During the first shift change of overtime, Nellis caught the Americans in the middle of a change and completed the hat-trick on a breakaway at 0:48, giving the Steelheads the 6-5 overtime win and a positive result to close out the calendar year.

Steelheads goaltender Tomas Sholl (14-4-4) turned aside 14 of 19 shots in the win, while Americans netminder Jake Paterson (12-2-3) stopped 38 of 44 shots in the overtime loss.

The Steelheads open the New Year on Friday, Jan. 3 at 6:20 p.m. against the Tulsa Oilers to begin a three-in-three set. Coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. on 1350 KTIK-AM “The Ticket” and ECHL.tv.

The Steelheads return to CenturyLink Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7:10 p.m. against the Tulsa Oilers. The Hockey Starter Pack provides the benefits of the ultimate fan on the time you want! Call the Steelheads Front Office at 208-383-0080 to inquire about getting your pack as well as planning your next outing with single-game tickets, flex plans and season tickets. Stay connected to the Steelheads on idahosteelheads.com or by following the team on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.