IDAHO STEELHEADS WEEKLY – WEEK 17 – 2/13/24

IDAHO STEELHEADS WEEKLY – WEEK 17 – 2/13/24

Forward Mark Rassell scored his league leading 25^th goal of the season on Friday night in Utah while Captain A.J. White scored a goal in his 500^th career ECHL game on Saturday night as the Steelheads split a home and home series with Utah and hit the road for Rapid City this week. 

The Steelheads (30-13-2-1) enter the week second place in the Mountain Division and Western Conference while sitting fifth overall in the ECHL while Rapid City (19-25-2-0) sits in sixth place in the division, just three points out of a playoff spot. 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Wednesday, Feb. 14 at Rapid City | 10:35 a.m. (MT)
Friday, Feb. 16 at Rapid City | 7:05 p.m. (MT)
Saturday, Feb. 17 at Rapid City | 7:05 p.m. (MT)

LAST WEEK’S GAMES

Friday, Feb. 9 at Utah Grizzlies | 4-1 Win 
Highlights Full Recap Box Score
Idaho led 2-0 after the first period receiving goals from Demetrios Koumontzis and Ben Zloty. Midway through the second period Francesco Arcuri scored on the power-play as the Steelheads took a 3-0 lead into the third period. The Grizzlies got on the board midway through the third period but Mark Rassell found the back of the net with 4:58 left in regulation for his league leading 25^th goal of the season en route to Idaho’s fourth straight win. Wade Murphy finished the game with two assists while Bryan Thomson made 16 saves on 17 shots in the victory. 

Saturday, Feb. 10 vs. Utah Grizzlies | 6-5 OTL 
Highlights Full Recap Box Score
Utah took a 1-0 lead just three minutes into the game but Jordan Kawaguchi tied the game at 7:52 of the first period scoring his first goal of the season. Utah jumped out in front 2-1 with 4:48 left in the opening stanza before Demetrios Koumontzis scored for the second straight night tying it at 2-2 at 17:53. The Grizzlies stuck with 63 seconds left taking a 3-2 lead into the locker room through 20 minutes of play. Utah then took a 4-2 advantage 2:54 into the middle frame but the Steelheads would strike for three unanswered taking their first lead of the game. A.J. White scored on the power-play in his 500^th career ECHL game at 9:38 and then Romain Rodzinski tied the game at 4-4 with 3:10 left in the stanza. Ty Pelton-Byce scored on the power-play at 4:48 of the third period for his 100^th career ECHL point giving Idaho a 5-4 advantage. The Grizzlies scored at 11:59 of the third to tie it and eventually force overtime where they scored a four-on-three power-play goal with 43.5 seconds left to take the game 6-5. Bryan Thomson was pulled after 22:54 allowing four goals on eight shots while Jared Moe took the loss making 18 saves on 20 shots in 43:23 of relief. 

THE WEEK AHEAD

Idaho and Rapid City drop the puck Wednesday morning at 10:35 a.m. for the ninth of 14 total meetings this season and will collide Friday/Saturday night for the final time in Rapid City this season. You can listen to the games game on the Steelheads flagship station 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”  and watch on FloHockey. 

Idaho is 7-1-0-0 vs. Rapid City this season and 5-0-0-0 in Rapid City. With 26 games remaining on the regular season schedule Idaho will play 17 of them on the road including the next six straight. 

The two club’s last met for a pair of games in January as the Steelheads took down the Rush 5-2 on Jan. 19 and 6-1 the following night at The Monument Arena. In the head-to-head series the Steelheads have outscored the Rush 39-22 including 26-10 on the road. Idaho is operating at 29.2% on the power-play and 88.9% on the penalty kill vs. the Rush this year. A.J. White (5-5-10) and Ty Pelton-Byce (1-9-10) are the active Idaho leaders in the head-to-head series while Maurizio Colella (1-7-8) paces the way for Rapid City. 

After the two-game series split with Utah this past weekend the Steelheads are (7-2-1) in their last 10 games dating back to Jan. 19. Meanwhile, the Rush dropped both games vs. Kansas City last weekend on home ice and are just (2-8) in their last 10 games dating back to Jan. 19. 

INDIVIDUAL NOTES

#2 Trevor Zins has an assist in two straight games. 

#6 Wade Murphy has a career long nine-game point-streak (3G, 9A) and is tied for second in the ECHL with 55 points while his 22 goals are tied for fourth. He is tied for the ECHL lead with a +28 rating. He leads Idaho with 17 multi-point games where the club is 15-1-0-1 when he records two or more points in a game. In parts of two seasons with Idaho he has appeared in 99 games totaling 98 points (43G, 55A). 

#13 Francesco Arcuri has points in three straight games (1G, 3A) and a point in nine of his last 13 games (4G, 9A) dating back to Jan. 6. In 38 games he has 26 points (12G, 14A). 

#17 Ty Pelton-Byce has a career long eight-game point-streak (3G, 10A) after scoring a goal on Saturday night for his 100^th career ECHL point. He has a point in 13 of his last 16 games (6G, 16A) since Dec. 15. His 33 assists are tied for sixth in the ECHL while he’s tied for the league lead with a +28 rating. In 38 games this season he has logged 45 points (12G, 33A) as the Steelheads are 9-0-1 when he scores a goal, 23-3-1 when recording a point, and 13-0 when tallying two or more points. Dating back to last season he has skated in 81 games for Idaho recording 91 points (31G, 60A). 

#18 A.J. White played in his 500^th career ECHL game on Saturday night and scored his 10^th power-play goal of the season which ranks tied for second amongst all ECHL skaters. He has a point in three of his last four games (2G, 2A). He leads Idaho with 18 power-play points (10G, 8A). He is nine games shy of 400 as a Steelhead. 

#23 Demetrios Koumontzis has a goal in back-to-back games. 

#28 Will Merchant has points in three straight games (1G, 2A) and is eight goals shy of 100 career ECHL goals. In 16 games this season he has tallied 11 points (3G, 8A). 

#43 Matt Register has a four-game point-streak (1G, 4A). His 40 points and 34 assists are third amongst ECHL defenders while his 16 power-play points (3G, 13A) are tied for fifth. 

#44 Ben Zloty has three goals in his last six games and a point in seven of his last 10 games (3G, 5A). 

#47 Patrick Kudla is fifth amongst ECHL defenders with 37 points and fourth with 31 assists.  

#77 Jordan Kawaguchi has now played in four games scoring a goal and adding an assist since signing a contract with Idaho back on Jan. 17. 

TEAM NOTES

GOAL SCORING AT A PREMIUM
Idaho leads the league averaging 4.37 goals for per game having scored a league high 201 through 46 games… Kansas City is the next closest with 192 in 46 games. The Steelheads have scored four or more goals in 34 of 46 games posting a record of 30-2-1-1 when doing so. Eight different skaters have hit double digits in goals. 

SHOOTING GALLERY 
Idaho leads the league averaging 37.78 shots for per game this season. They’re 25-8-1-1 when outshooting their opponent and 8-2-1-0 when being outshot. They have tallied 40 or more shots in 20 of 46 games while only not hitting 30 shots nine times this year. Saturday night they outshot Utah 50-28, the third time this year hitting 50 or more shots. 

THE POWER-PLAY
Idaho leads the league (46-for-163, 28.2%) and are first on the road (24-for-71, 33.8%). They have scored a man advantage goal in four straight games (5-for-13, 38.5%) and in six of their last seven games (6-for-19, 32%). The Steelheads are 20-7-1-1 when scoring a power-play goal and 9-2-1-1 when scoring two or more-man advantage goals in a decision. 

HOME COOKING
Idaho is tied for third in home wins this year with a 15-7-2-1 record. They have sold out in 24 of 25 games including 22 straight having scored four or more goals in 18 outings. 

ROAD WARRIORS
Idaho is 15-6 on the road this season having won eight of their last 12 games. 

SCORING FIRST
Idaho is tied for second in the league with 27 first goals posting a record of (22-3-1-1) after scoring first in three straight games. 

STATISTICAL LEADERS
Goals: Mark Rassell (25) – Tied First in ECHL 
Assists: Matt Register (34) – Fifth in ECHL 
Points: Wade Murphy (55) – Tied Second in ECHL 
Plus/Minus: Wade Murphy, Ty Pelton-Byce (+28) – Tied First in ECHL   
PIMs: Nick Canade (80) 
PPGs: A.J. White (10) – Tied Second in ECHL 
GWGs: Mark Rassell (6) – Tied Second in ECHL   
Shots: Wade Murphy (171) – Fifth in ECHL   
Wins: Bryan Thomson (16) - Tied Third in ECHL 
GAA: Bryan Thomson (2.88)
SV%: Bryan Thomson (.908) 

Stay up to date with all things Steelheads on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Watch all Steelheads home games on FloHockey and KTVB 24/7 (Channel 7.2) and listen on the Steelheads flagship station 95.3 FM KTIK “The Ticket”.