STEELHEADS COMPLETE SWEEP OVER AMERICANS WITH 5-4 VICTORY

STEELHEADS COMPLETE SWEEP OVER AMERICANS WITH 5-4 VICTORY

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (29-13-1-1, 60pts) defeated the Allen Americans (18-23-2-1, 39pts) by a final score of 5-4in front of a sellout crowd of 5,144 at the Idaho Central Arena. It was the 23^rd sellout of the season in the 24^th home game including the 21^st consecutive. Idaho wrapped up their season series with Allen going 8-3 and 7-1 in Boise. 

Matt Register (6^th) gave Idaho a 1-0 lead just 5:20 into the game as the goal came one second after the Steelheads power-play had expired. Bailey Conger on the far half wall fed A.J. White below the far circle. White then slid the puck out to the blue line where Register stepped into a one timer going upstairs on Marco Constantini. Just 36 seconds later Ty Pelton-Byce (11^th) made it 2-0 with a shot from the left circle into the top left corner with Wade Murphy picking up the assists. Nolan Orzeck (5^th) scored on the power-play with a shot from the point at 7:12 to pull the Americans back within one. Easton Brodzinski (18^th) tied the game with a wrist shot from the high slot with just 5:16 left in the period. Idaho outshot Allen 15-7 in the frame as the scored was 2-2. 

Idaho outshot Allen 17-1 in the second period and scored on three occasions to capture a 5-2 lead through 40 minutes of play. 1:32 into the frame Bailey Conger (3^rd) made it 3-1 with a power-play goal on a rebound in the blue paint with assists going to Matt Register and Jordan Kawaguchi. Just 2:31 later Mark Rassell (24^th) tucked in a wraparound from Wade Murphy and Ty Pelton-Byce giving the Steelheads a 4-1 advantage. With just 3:29 left in the frame Lincoln Erne fired a shot from the point that got tipped in front by Will Merchant (3^rd) making it 5-2.  

Allen made things interesting in the third period as Blake MacArthur (5^th) scored 40 seconds in and Eric Williams (4^th) found the back of the net at 9:00 on the power-play as the Americans pulled within one. Bryan Thomson stood tall in the frame making 11 saves on 12 shots as Idaho held out for the 5-4 win. 

Bryan Thomson made 16 saves on 20 shots in the win while Marco Constantini turned aside 34 of the 39 shots he faced in the loss.

BOX SCORE

ICCU Three Stars

1. Matt Register (1-1-2, +1, 3 shots) 
2. Jordan Kawaguchi (0-1-1, +2, 6 shots) 
3. Bailey Conger (1-1-2, +1, 3 shots) 

GAME NOTES

• Idaho went 1-for-4 on the power-play while Allen was 2-for-6. 
• Idhao outshot Allen 39-20.  
• Idaho is 36-19-5 all-time vs. Allen and 24-7-3 in Boise. Idaho finished the head-to-head season series vs. the Americans 8-3 and 7-1 in Boise. 
• Sam Sternschein (IR), David Tendeck (IR), Cooper Jones (DNP), Francesco Arcuri (DNP) and Colton Kehler (INJ) did not dress for Idaho. 
• Ty Pelton-Byce increased his point streak to six games (2-9-11) with a goal and an assist while Wade Murphy lifted his to seven games (3-6-9) with two assists. 
• Mark Rassell scored his league leading 24^th goal of the season. 
• A.J. White tallied two assists for his eighth multi-point game of the year. 
• Matt Register and Bailey Conger each scored a goal and added an assist. 

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