IDAHO STEELHEADS WEEKLY – WEEK 14 – 1/24/24

IDAHO STEELHEADS WEEKLY – WEEK 14 – 1/24/24

It was a milestone weekend in Rapid City this past weekend as Willie Knierim produced a four-goal game on Friday night in a 5-2 win and A.J. White scored his 100^th career goal as a Steelhead Saturday in a 6-1 victory while Matt Register scored twice in his 700^th professional game. 

The Steelheads (25-11-1-1) hit the road this week for a three-in-three weekend in Tulsa to wrap up a five-game road swing. Idaho enters the weekend second in the Mountain Division trailing Kansas City by four points, third in the Western Conference, and fifth in the ECHL with a winning percentage of 0.684. 

Last Friday night Idaho snapped a three-game losing streak defeating Rapid City 5-2 as Willie Knieirm became just the third player in the Steelheads ECHL era to score four goals in a game. Nicholas Canade picked up his team leading fourth fighting major of the season while rookie defenseman Romain Rodzinski notched his first as a pro. There was a combined 90 penalty minutes between the two teams with 62 of them coming at the eight-minute mark of the third period. Jack Becker and Francesco Arcuri each tallied three assists while Bryan Thomson made 32 saves in between the pipes. 

On Saturday night the Steelheads stormed past the Rush collecting a 6-1 victory as A.J. White scored his 100^th career goal as a Steelhead and added an assist. Matt Register scored two goals and added an assist in his 700^th professional game while Colton Kehler tied a career game high with three assists. Boise native Bailey Conger notched a career high with a goal and three assists while Bryan Thomson turned aside 38 of the 39 shots he faced. 

The Week Ahead

Idaho heads to Tulsa for a three-in-three weekend from the BOK Center for the first of two trips to Oklahoma this year. The Steelheads were 4-1-0-1 against the Oilers last season including 1-1-0-1 in Tulsa. The Oilers sit in third place in the Mountain Division with an overall record of 18-16-3-0 and 11-7-2-0 on home ice. The Oilers have won three straight games including a 3-0 win vs. Wichita last Friday night behind a hat-trick from Eddie Matsushima and a 35 save shutout from Julian Junca who has started the last three games. Idaho has one of the best records in the ECHL on the road at 13-4-0-0 having win six of their last eight away from Boise. 

STEELHEADS STANDOUTS

Oh My Murphy: Forward Wade Murphy is tied for second in the ECHL with 44 points and tied for third with 20 goals. His 141 shots are tied for fifth in the league. Last Saturday night he scored Idaho’s fourth short-handed goal of the season and his fourth career shorty in the ECHL. The Steelheads are 13-2 when he scores a goal this season and 12-1-0-1 when he records a multi-point game, his 14 multi-point games lead Idaho. 

Oh Captain My Captain: Forward A.J. White scored his 100^th career goal as a Steelhead on Saturday night snapping a 14-game goal-less drought dating back to his overtime winner on Dec. 13 vs. Rapid City. He becomes just the third player in franchise history to hit 100 or more goals joining Marty Flichel (180) and Cal Ingraham (175). His 14 goals this year are tied for eighth in the league while his eight on the power-play are tied for second.

Pull Out the Record Books: Forward Willie Knierim scored four goals on Friday night in a 5-2 win vs. Rapid City joining Tristan King (Oct. 17, 2012) and Mark Derlago (Mar. 5, 2011) as the three to accomplish the feat. On Monday Knierim was named ECHL Player of the Week after scoring five goals in two games vs. Rapid City. The 26-year-old has points in three straight games (5G, 2A) and a point in five of his last eight games (7G, 2A). 

700 FOR REG: Veteran defenseman Matt Register scored two goals and added an assist on Saturday night in a 6-1 win at Rapid City celebrating his 700^th professional game. On Friday night he tallied an assist for his 82 point as a Steelhead moving into third all-time amongst Steelheads ECHL defensemen. His 33 points and 28 assists are tied for second amongst ECHL defensemen. 

CUE THE CONGO: Since joining the Steelheads on Jan. 10 Boise native forward Bailey Conger has totaled six points (2G, 4A) in five games. On Saturday night he scored a goal and added three assists. 

POINT STREAK CONTINUES: Dallas Stars prospect and rookie forward Francesco Arcuri recorded a career high three assists on Friday night in a 5-2 win at Rapid City and now has points in four consecutive games (2G, 5A). He missed Saturday night’s contest with a lower body injury.    

SETTLING IN BETWEEN THE PIPES: Rookie goaltender Bryan Thomson has made 30 or more saves in his last five starts and has allowed two or fewer goals four of those five games posting a 3-2 record with a 2.54 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. His 11 wins this season are tied for third amongst ECHL goaltenders. He was awarded the top save of the week last week for his save Saturday night vs. Rapid City. 

MAKING A STRONG IMPRESSION: Rookie defenseman Trevor Zins was acquired from the Indy Fuel for future considerations on Jan. 11 and scored a goal on Friday night in his Idaho debut while finishing plus-four and then on Saturday night he tallied an assist. 

In the AHL: Idaho has eight players up in the AHL, most recently Ty Pelton-Byce singing a PTO with the San Jose Barracuda on Sunday. Pelton-Byce joins, Dawson Barteaux (Manitoba), Cody Haiskanen (Ontario), Patrick Kudla (Syracuse), Keaton Mastrodonato (Texas), Jake Murray (Texas), Mark Rassell (Calgary), and Dylan Wells (Tucson). The Texas Stars 19-14-2-1 are second place in the AHL’s Central Division and eighth in the Western Conference with a winning percentage of 0.569. 

Quick Hits: Idaho leads the ECHL averaging 4.53 goals for per game scoring 172 in 38 games… They have tallied four or more goals in 29 of those 38 games… The Steelheads lead the league averaging 38.24 shots for per game having totaled 40 or more shots in 18 of 38 games and six of their last 11… Idaho has the topped ranked power-play in the league overall (39-for-139, 28.1%) and first on the road (21-for-59, 35.6%)… Idaho’s penalty kill on the road is first in the league (62-for-69, 89.9%)… The Steelheads are tied for second with 22 first goals this season posting a record of 17-3-1-1 when getting out to a 1-0 lead.   

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