STEELHEADS DROP GAME ONE OF MOUNTAIN DIVISION FINALS IN KANSAS CITY, 4-2

STEELHEADS DROP GAME ONE OF MOUNTAIN DIVISION FINALS IN KANSAS CITY, 4-2 

INDEPENDENCE, MO – The Idaho Steelheads suffered a 4-2 loss against the Kansas City Mavericks Saturday night in Game One of the Mountain Division Finals at the Cable Dahmer Arena in front of 5,867 fans. Game Two is Sunday in Kansas City at 3:05 p.m. (MT). 

Idaho trailed 2-0 after the first period. Cole Coskey from the right circle fed David Cotton back door on the far post making it 1-0 with 5:02 remaining in the period. Jacob Hayhurst at 16:24 fired a shot from inside the left circle over the right shoulder of Bryan Thomson making it 2-0 on a four-on-four goal. 

Kansas City would stretch their lead to 4-0 after the second period. David Cotton opened the periods scoring with his second of the game 46 seconds into the frame with a shot from the right circle beating Thomson short-side setup by Jake Jaremko and Cole Coskey. The Steelheads headed on their first power-play of the night with 7:05 left in the period but it would be the Mavericks who got on the board as Jacob Hayhurst notched his second of the game on a short-handed breakaway with 5:14 left in the stanza firing a wrist shot over the glove of Thomson from the high slot. 

Patrick Kudla (3^rd) got Idaho on the board with a power-play score with 6:45 remaining in the third period cutting the deficit down to 4-1. From the left-wing wall Wade Murphy fed Ty Pelton-Byce at the far dot. From there Pelton-Byce connected with Kudla below the near dot where he sent a wrist shot over the near shoulder of Cale Morris. With 32 seconds left in the game Jake Murray (1^st) cut to the high slot from the left point. From there he corralled the puck to his back hand he sent a back hander over the near should of Morris making the final score 4-2. 

Bryan Thomson made 29 saves on 33 shots in the loss while Cale Morris made 24 saves on 26 shots in the loss.   

BOX SCORE

ICCU Three Stars

1. David Cotton (KC)
2. Jacob Hayhurst (KC)
3. Cole Coskey (KC) 

GAME NOTES

• Idaho went 1-for-4 on the power-play while Kansas City went 0-for-4. 
• Kansas City outshot Idaho 33-26. 
• Willie Knierim (DNP), Connor Mylymok (DNP), Nick Canade (DNP), and Joe Gatenby (INJ) did not dress for Idaho. 
• Idaho is 16-for-16 over their last five games on the penalty kill. 
• Wade Murphy, Ty Pelton-Byce, Lynden McCallum, and Demetrios Koumontzis all recorded an assist. 
• Jake Murray scored his first professional playoff goal. 

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 95.3 FM and 1350 AM KTIK “The Ticket”.