Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 13 – 1/10/23

Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 13 – 1/10/23 

Steelheads host Utah for annual Pink In The Rink Weekend 

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) wrapped up six straight games on the road this past week grabbing four out of a possible six points in Wichita. Idaho host Utah this Friday and Saturday night for the annual Pink In The Rink Weekend.  

THIS WEEK’S GAMESFriday, Jan. 13 vs. Utah | 7:10 p.m.Saturday, Jan. 14 vs. Utah | 7:10 p.m. 

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDINGS

1. Idaho Steelheads (27-4-0-1, 55pts)
2. Wichita Thunder (20-11-3-0, 43pts) 
3. Rapid City Rush (17-17-0-0, 34pts) 
4. Kansas City Mavericks (14-12-4-0, 32pts)
5. Tulsa Oilers (10-12-6-1, 27pts)
6. Utah Grizzlies (12-18-1-0, 25pts) 
7. Allen Americans (11-19-1-0, 23pts) 

LAST WEEK’S GAMES

Wednesday, Jan. 4     Idaho (5) at Wichita (3)          HighlightsFull Recap       Box Score

Ryan Dmowski (1-0-1) gave Idaho an early 1-0 lead 2:06 into the game but the Thunder grabbed a power-play goal from Quinn Preston (2-0-2) 2:16 later. A.J. White (2-0-2) provided the fourth shot-handed Idaho goal of the year to hand Idaho back the lead. The Steelheads led 2-1 through 20 minutes of play outshooting Wichita 17-8. The Steelheads replicated what they did in the first period scoring a pair of goals in the middle stanza thanks to Jade Miller (1-0-1) and the second of the night from White. Idaho held Wichita to just four shots in the middle period while firing 18 on net. The Steelheads took the 4-1 lead into the dressing room through 40 minutes of play. Wichita pulled within one with a pair of the goals in the opening 10 minutes of play in the final period to make the score 4-3. Willie Knierim (1-2-3) cashed in on an empty netter with just 68 seconds to play to make it 5-3. Rémi Poirier made 28 saves on 31 shots for the win while Evan Buitenhuis received the loss making 35 stops on 40 shots. 

Friday, Jan. 6              Wichita (4) vs. Idaho (1)        HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Brayden Watts (1-3-4) scored the only goal of the first period which came on the power-play about halfway through the frame. Shots were 15-13 in favor the Steelheads but it was Wichita on top 1-0 through 20 minutes. Wichita increased their lead to 2-0 early in the second period cashing in on their second man advantage goal of the night thanks to Jay Dickman (2-0-2). Ryan Dmowski was awarded a penalty shot with at 8:58 but was unable to convert. Idaho would finally get on the scoreboard thanks to Justin Misiak (1-0-1) with just 58 seconds left in the middle stanza. Wichita lead 2-1 through 40 minutes of play as shots were doubled up 16-8 in favor of Idaho in the frame. Michal Stinil (1-1-2) found the back of the net on a breakaway to make it 3-1 with a few minutes to play followed by an empty-net goal by Dickman. Strauss Mann made 41 saves on 42 shots for the win while Adam Scheel received the loss making 24 saves on 27 shots. 

Saturday, Jan. 7          Idaho (3) at Wichita (2)          HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Michal Stinil (1-0-1) scored the only goal of the first period with just 4:39 to play. Shots were 11-10 in favor Wichita as both teams were 0-for-2 on the power-play. Kenny Hausinger (1-0-1) made it 2-0 Thunder late in the second period but moments later Ryan Dmowski (1-1-2) got the Steelheads on the scoreboard. Idaho trailed 2-1 after 40 minutes of lay with second period shots 11-10 in favor of the Steelheads. Casey Johnson(1-0-1) scored his first goal of the season to tie the game at 2-2 with 6:26 to play in regulation. With just 1:55 left in overtime Jade Miller (1-0-1) called game for a 3-2 final score. Rémi Poirier made 26 saves on 28 shots for the win while Evan Buitenhuis made 32 saves on 25 shots in the loss. 

STEELHEADS STANDOUTS

#6 Wade Murphy has points in three of the last six games (2-3-5), seven of his last 11 (4-6-10), and 11 of his last 17 (6-10-16). He has been a plus or even rating in 14 straight games (+13). 

#7 Owen Headrick leads all ECHL defensemen in goals (10) and is tied for first in points (28). His six power-play goals are tied for first amongst blue liners and rookie skaters overall. His 12 power-play points are tied for second amongst rookies. He has a point in four of his last five games (2-3-5) and 18 of his last 21 (10-14-24). 

#15 Ryan Dmowski leads the Steelheads and points (38) while ranking sixth in the league in scoring and tied for fifth in goals (16). His 168 shots lead the entire ECHL while he has a point in 16 of his last 21 games (7-18-25) recording a point in 22 games and a goal in 13. 

#18 A.J. White has points in three of his last five games (2-3-5), eight of his last 14 (6-7-13), and nine of his last 16 (6-8-14). Over his last 25 games he has tallied a point in 13 games (6-14-20) after starting the year (2-1-3) in the first seven games. He is three goals shy of tying Jefferson Dahl for fifth all-time with 77 career goals, 10 assists shy of tying Darrell Hay for second all-time with 154, and 14 games shy of tying Hay for second all-time with 320 games played for the Steelheads modern ECHL era. 

#19 Justin Misiak notched his first multi-point game of his career Saturday night tallying two assists. He has points in back-to-back games (1-2-3) and five of his last 12 (3-3-6). 

#26 Jade Miller has points in three of his last five games (3-0-3) and four of his last seven (3-1-4). Over the last 19 games he is (7-5-12) including three multi-point games. 

#27 Jack Becker has points in four of his last nine games (3-4-7) including three multi-point games. He has points in seven of his last 13 (3-7-10) and eight of his last 15 (5-7-12). 

#29 Willie Knierim tallied a career high three points (1-2-3) on Wednesday night and has points in eight of his last 11 games (3-7-10). 

#31 Rémi Poirier holds the league’s best goals against average (1.98) and is third in save percentage (0.930). He has won seven straight games. 

#35 Adam Scheel ranks second in the league in goals against average (2.01) and tied for second in save percentage (0.931). 

#37 Zane Franklin has (5-8-13) in 18 games including four multi-point games. 

#43 Matt Register leads the ECHL at (+41) and has been an even or plus rating in 29 of 32 games. He has points in eight of his last 12 games (3-9-12). 

#47 Patrick Kudla leads all ECHL defensemen in assists (23) and is tied for first in scoring (28). His 12 power-play assists are third amongst defenders and 15-man advantage points are second. He has nine multi-point games this year and a point in 19 of 30 games. 

#74 Cody Haiskanen is second in the ECHL at (+27) in just 21 games. He has points in six of his last 11 games (0-8-8) and (+15) during the stretch. 

#77 Jordan Kawaguchi is tied for fourth in goals (17) in the ECHL and has points in nine of his last 12 games (12-5-17) and goals in eight of his last 12. He has points in 11 of his last 16 (14-7-21) including seven multi-point games. 

TEAM NOTESEND OF A STREAK With the loss last Friday night, the Steelheads winning streak ended at 12 games dating back to Dec. 9. During the stretch Idaho outscored their opponents 58-15 having scored four goals (three times), five goals (five times), and six goals (three times). They held their opposition to two or fewer goals in 10 of the 12 games holding them to no goals (twice), one goal (five times), two goals (three times), and three goals (three times). The loss also ended a road winning streak of 10 games which dated back to Nov. 17 where Idaho outscored their opponents 45-15. 

COME FROM BEHIND WINSaturday night the Steelheads trailed 2-1 heading into the third period. Casey Johnson tied the game with just 6:26 to play in regulation eventually forcing overtime. Jade Miller notched the overtime game winner as the Steelheads scored three unanswered for the win. Idaho is now (2-4) when trailing through 40 minutes this year with the other victory coming on Nov. 11 in a 4-2 win at Rapid City. Last year Idaho was (0-18-2-0) when trailing after two periods of play. 

GOAL SCORING AT A PREMIUMIdaho ranks first in goals for averaging (4.28) per game. They have scored four or more goals in 11 of their last 14 games and five or more goals in 13 of their last 19. They have scored four or more goals in 23 games this year posting a record of (23-0) when doing so. 

PUCKS STOP AT THE STEELHEADS NET Idaho ranks first in goals against averaging (1.97) per game. They have held their opponents to two or fewer goals 21 times this year posting a record of (20-1) when doing so. Over the last 14 games they have only allowed 24 goals against holding their opposition to two or fewer goals in 10 of the last 14. 

TOP RANKED POWER-PLAY Idaho is tied for first in the ECHL on the power-play (28/112, 25%) while holding the best road man advantage (16/51, 31.4%). Idaho has scored a power-play goal in 20 of 32 games this year having scored in 15 of their last 23 games (22/77, 28.6%).  

TOP RANK PENALTY KILL Idaho ranks first on the penalty kill (102/118, 86.4%) and during their last 12 games are (38/46,  82.6%) having allowed a power-play goal against in four games. Idaho is the second fewest penalized team averaging just (10.72) penalty minutes per game this year. 

SCORING FIRST Idaho has scored first 19 times this season, the fourth most in the league, and have a record of (19-0) when scoring first. The Steelheads have scored first in eight of the last 11 games. 

SCORING BY PERIODIdaho has the best first period goal differential (+24) as no team has scored more goals (44) or given up fewer (20). In the second period, Idaho has the best goal differential (+23) tied for scoring the second most goals (45) and allowing the fewest (22). In the third period, Idaho has the best goal differential (+27) scoring the most goals for (47) and allowing the fewest (20). 

STATISTICAL LEADERSGoals: Jordan Kawaguchi (17) Assists: Patrick Kudla (23) Points: Ryan Dmowski (38)Plus/Minus: Matt Register (+41)    PIMS: Zane Franklin / Willie Knierim (31)  PPGs: Owen Headrick (6) SHGs: Ty Pelton-Byce (2) GWGs: Owen Headrick (4) Shots: Ryan Dmowski (168)Wins: Rémi Poirier (11) GAA: Rémi Poirier (1.98)SV%: Adam Scheel (.931)  

Season tickets for the 2022-23 season are on sale now! For more information on ticket packages, contact the front office at 208-383-0080 or visit IdahoSteelheads.com. Stay up to date with all things Steelheads on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Watch all Steelheads home games on FloHockey and Sparklight Channel 72 and listen on the Steelheads flagship station, 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”.