Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 20 – 3/1/23

Idaho Steelheads Weekly – Week 20 – 3/1/23 

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) picked up another three game sweep this past week highlighted by a thrilling finish on Saturday night. With a 29-point lead on the division, 11 point lead on the Western Conference, and a 10 point lead on the entire league Idaho travels to Kansas City this weekend for a three-in-three.  

THIS WEEK’S GAMESFriday, Mar. 3 at Kansas City | 6:05 p.m. (MT) Saturday, Mar. 4 at Kansas City | 6:05 p.m. (MT) Sunday, Mar. 5 at Kansas City | 3:05 p.m. (MT)

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDINGS

1.   Idaho Steelheads (41-8-1-2, 85pts) 2.    Kansas City Mavericks (25-21-6-0, 56pts) 3.    Wichita Thunder (26-24-4-0, 56pts) 4.    Allen Americans (26-25-1-0, 53pts) 5.    Utah Grizzlies (23-26-3-0, 49pts) 6.    Rapid City Rush (24-27-1-0, 49pts) 7.    Tulsa Oilers (18-25-7-1, 44pts) 

OPPONENT BREAKDOWN 

LAST WEEK’S GAMES

Wednesday, Feb. 22  Idaho (3) vs. Maine (1)           HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Jordan Kawaguchi scored twice tying Ryan Dmowski for the team lead in goals (21) while Dmowski recorded his 100th career ECHL point on an empty-net goal by Janis Svanenbergs (13th). Adam Scheelmade 32 saves for his fourth straight victory. 

Friday, Feb. 24            Idaho (2) vs. Maine (0)           HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

Wade Murphy (12th) and Justin Misiak (8th) scored goals while Misiak also added an assist. Adam Scheel pitched his second shutout of the season making 21 saves for his fifth straight win in net. 

Saturday, Feb. 25       Idaho (5) vs. Maine (4)           HighlightsFull RecapBox Score

In their returns to the Idaho lineup, Owen Headrick (13th) back from Texas Stars and Ty Pelton-Byce (10th)returning for his first game since Dec. 16 after missing 28 games on the IR, the two scored goals 11 seconds apart from one another in the first period. Five goals were scored in the final period as Maine tied the game at 3-3 early in the frame. Midway through the stanza Justin Misiak (10th) scored his second of the night which came short-handed giving Idaho back the lead. Maine scored with just under four minutes to play but the Steelheads went on the power-play with just 1:39 to play in regulation. Justin Ducharme (11th) provided the game winner coming on the man advantage with just 17 seconds to play. 

RECENT MILESTONES

February 24:   Ryan Dmowski and Casey Johnson played in their 100th career ECHL game. 

February 22:   Ryan Dmowski tallied his 100th career ECHL point with an assist. Since being acquired via trade from the South Carolina Stingrays on 3/16/22 he has (32-38-70) in 65 games with Idaho. 

February 17:   A.J. White scored his 83rd Steelhead goal tying Lance Galbraith for third all-time in the Idaho ECHL modern era. Zane Franklin scored the overtime winner in his 100th career ECHL/Pro game. Zach Walker played in his 100th Steelhead game.  

UPCOMING MILESTONES

• #7 Owen Headrick is two goals shy of tying Jeremy Mylymok (2000-01) for most goals by a defenseman in Steelheads history and one shy of tying Joe Faust (2016-17) for most all-time in the ECHL modern era. He is two points shy of tying Darrell Hay (2007-08) for most points (45) in a single season by a defenseman in the Steelheads ECHL modern era.  
• #13 Casey Johnson is two games shy of 100 career ECHL games. 
• #15 Ryan Dmowski is one assist shy of 50 career ECHL assists. 
• #18 A.J. White is three assists (154) shy of tying Darrell Hay for second all-time and one goal shy (84) of moving into sole possession of third all-time. He is (7) points shy of 300 career ECHL/Pro points. 
• #26 Jade Miller is two games shy of 150 career ECHL/Pro games. 
• #43 Matt Register is three goals shy of 100 career ECHL goals and one assist shy of tying Darrell Hay (2007-08) for most assists (36) in a single season in the Steelheads ECHL modern era. 

STEELHEADS STANDOUTS

• #6 Wade Murphy is fourth in the ECHL at (+30) and has points in back-to-back games (1-1-2). Over his last 20 games he has (6-9-15). 
• #7 Owen Headrick leads all ECHL defensemen in goals (13)andis second in points (43). He is tied for first amongst defenders in power-play goals (6) and tied for fourth in power-play points (19). He is third amongst ECHL rookies in man advantage points. He has points in five of his last six games (2-5-7), 15 of his last 19 (5-15-20), 31 of his last 37 (13-26-39), and at least one point in 32 of 41 games including longest point streak by a defenseman in the league this season, 14 games from Nov.11-Dec. 14 (8G, 11A).  
• #11 Justin Ducharme has points in in five of his last eight games (4-3-7) including seven goals in his last 12 games. He has points in 12 of his last 17 games (9-8-17). He has a point in 16 of 23 games. 
• #15 Ryan Dmowski is tied for 13th in points (51) and tied for ninth in goals (21) in the ECHL. Hehas points in six of his last 10 games (2-4-6), eight of his last 13 games (4-4-8), nine of his last 15 (5-5-10), 10 of his last 17 (5-6-11), 11 of his last 19 (5-8-13), 14 of his last 23 (7-10-17). He has a point in 34 of 52 games and a goal in 19. 
• #18 A.J. White has points in 10 of his last 17 (7-7-14). He has points in 14 of his last 24 games (11-10-21), 19 of his last 34 (15-14-29), and 20 of his last 36 (15-15-30). Over his last 44 games he has tallied a point in 25 games (15-21-36).
• #29 Willie Knierim has goals/points in four of his last five games (4-1-5). He has eight goals in his last nine games including points in 15 of his last 21 games (11-9-20). 
• #31 Rémi Poirier is first in the ECHL amongst save percentage (.928) and second in goals against-average (2.07). He is tied for third in wins (19) and tied for second in shutouts (3).  
• #35 Adam Scheel has won five straight games and ranks tied for third in the ECHL in goals against-average (2.14) and save percentage (.926).
• #43 Matt Register leads the ECHL at (+49) and has been an even or plus rating in 45 of 52 games. He is tied for third amongst ECHL defensemen in points (41) and second in assists (35). He has points in seven of his last nine games (1-8-9), 13 of his last 16 games (2-16-18) and 20 of his last 31 games (5-21-26). 
• #47 Patrick Kudla is fourth amongst ECHL defensemen in points (40) and third in assists (34) and has a point in 26 of 46 games.
• #51 Dawson Barteaux has points in three of his last four games (0-3-3) and six of his last nine games (1-5-6).
• #74 Cody Haiskanen is second amongst ECHL skaters at (+35). 
• #77 Jordan Kawaguchi has points in four of his last six games (3-5-8) and is tied for ninth in the ECHL in goals (21). 

TEAM NOTES

GONE STREAKINThe Steelheads are on a five-game winning streak, a nine-game point streak, and a 10-game home winning streak. The 10-game home winning streak is the longest in the Steelheads ECHL modern era, with the longest ever coming back in the WCHL days during the 2002-03 Idaho win 20 straight home contests. 

LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN Idaho has a 29-point lead in the Mountain Division, 13-point lead on the Western Conference, and a 10-point led on the entire league. 

40 WIN PLATEAUOn Friday night Idaho collected their 40th win of the season in just their 50th game. In 19 ECHL seasons the Steelheads have hit 40 wins 13 times. 

BYE BYE FEBRUARY The Steelheads finished the month of February (9-1-1-1) outscoring their opponents 46-31. Idaho went 32-for-36 (88.9%) on the penalty kill and 10-for-48 (20.8%) on the power-play. Matt Register (12GP, 1-12-13) led the team in points while Justin Ducharme led the way scoring seven goals in 12 games. Adam Scheel led the way in between the pipes posting a (5-0-0-1) record with a 1.63 goals against-average and a .944 save percentage making 170 saves on 180 shots. 

GOAL SCORING AT A PREMIUM Idaho has scored the most goals for this season (212) averaging (4.08) per game. Last season the Steelheads scored (216) goals in 72 games. Idaho has scored five or more goals in five of their last nine games. They have scored four or more goals in 21 of their last 34 games and five or more in 19 of their last 39. The Steelheads have scored four or more goals in 33 games this year posting a record of (31-1-1) when doing so. 

PUCKS STOP AT THE STEELHEADS NETIdaho has allowed the fewest goals this season (112) averaging just (2.15) per game against. The Steelheads have held their opponent to two or fewer goals in 32 of the first 52 games posting a record of (31-1) when doing so. 

DEPTH IN SCORING13 different players have double digits in goals while 15 different skaters have 20+ points. Of the 24 skaters to play for Idaho this year 22 have scored at least one goal while 21 have double digits in points. 

ONE GOAL GAMES Idaho has played the fewest one goal games this season in the entire ECHL at just (13GP, 8-2-1-2) but four of their last five games have been decided by one goal and six of their last 11. 

DEFENSIVE SCORING The Steelheads have produced the most points from the blueline in the entire ECHL (31-149-180). Last year Idaho had (31-139-170) from the backend.  

OVERALL GOAL DIFFERNTIALS Idaho has scored the most goals for (212) and allowed the fewest (112) for the best goal differential (+100). 

INSIDE THE TOP TEN IN SPECIAL TEAMS Idaho ranks seventh on the power-play (44/196, 22.4%). The Steelheads have scored a power-play goal in eight of their last 14 games and in 30 of their first 52 games including 11 multi-power play goal games. Idaho ranks first on the penalty kill (159/184, 86.4%) and are (53/59, 89.8%) in their last 19 games including (14/14) in their last five games. They have allowed a power-play goal against in just 17 games this season including six multi-man advantage goal games. 

SCORING FIRST Idaho has scored first 35 times this season, second most in the league, and have a record of (30-3-1-1) when scoring first. The Steelheads have scored first in six of their last seven games and in 11 of their last 13 games. 

STATISTICAL LEADERSGoals: Ryan Dmowski, Jordan Kawaguchi (21) Assists: Matt Register (35)   Points: Ryan Dmowski (51) Plus/Minus: Matt Register (+49)PIMS: Wade Murphy (56)  PPGs: Owen Headrick (6)SHGs: A.J. White, Ty Pelton-Byce, Willie Knierim (2)GWGs: Owen Headrick, A.J. White (2)Shots: Ryan Dmowski (240)Wins: Rémi Poirier (19)GAA: Rémi Poirier (2.07)SV%: Rémi Poirier (.928)

Idaho travels to Kansas City this weekend for a three-in-three against the Mavericks Friday and Saturday at 6:05 p.m. (MT) and Sunday at 3:05 p.m. (MT). Watch the game on FloHockey or listen on the Steelheads flagship station, 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”.