IDAHO STEELHEADS WEEKLY – WEEK 19 – 2/25/25

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the Dallas Stars (@DallasStars), began a six-game road stretch tomorrow night in Rapid City with 21 games remaining currently sitting four points back of the fourth and final playoff spot, five points back of third place, and six points back of second place. 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Wednesday, Feb. 26 at Rapid City | 7:05 p.m. (MT)
Friday, Feb. 28 at Rapid City | 7:05 p.m. (MT) 
Saturday, Feb. 29 at Rapid City | 7:05 p.m. (MT)

LAST WEEK’S GAMES

Friday, Feb. 21 
Idaho (3) vs. Wichita (5) 
Full Recap 
Box Score 
Highlights
After falling behind just 55 seconds into the game Brendan Hoffmann scored on the power-play with 2:09 remaining in the first period. Wichita retook the lead with 10:56 left in the second period before Connor MacEachern scored back-to-back goals giving Idaho a 3-2 lead. His first came with seven minutes remaining in the middle frame and then he struck just 3:01 into the third period. The Thunder tied the game at 3-3 just 2:27 later and then took a 4-3 advantage with 10:18 left in regulation. Despite outshooting Wichita 43-21 in the game including 21-5 in the third period, Wichita sealed the game away with an empty net goal in the final minute for a 5-3 win. 

Saturday, Feb. 22 
Idaho (5) vs. Wichita (4) OT 
Full Recap 
Box Score 
Highlights
Nick Canade gave made it 1-0 just 29 seconds into the game but Wichita rattled off three unanswered goals, which included a pair of power-play scores, shortly after in a stretch of 3:46 capturing a 3-1 advantage with 12:57 remaining in the first period. Mason McCarty (1-2-3) pulled Idaho back within one with 10:28 to play in the stanza and then 1:16 later A.J. White dropped the gloves. Jade Miller (1-1-2) tied the score at 3-3 just 4:08 into the second period and then got in a fight 17 seconds later. With 3:27 left in the stanza Connor MacEachern gave the Steelheads their first lead of the game making it 4-3. Wichita struck at 7:42 of the third period tying the contest. Idaho was assessed a penalty with 3:42 left in regulation and then with 1:09 to go, which eventually carried into overtime. Just 23 seconds after killing off the penalty to start overtime Wade Murphy scored 74 seconds into the extra session giving Idaho a 5-4 win. The Steelheads outshot the Thunder 52-25, including 25-10 in the first period. 

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDINGS 
1. Kansas City Mavericks (34-12-4-1, 73pts, 0.716%)
2. Tulsa Oilers (29-16-5-3, 66pts, 0.623%)
3. Wichita Thunder (20-17-4-1, 65pts, 0.625%)
4. Tahoe Knight Monsters (30-19-3-1, 64pts, 0.604%)
5. Idaho Steelheads (26-17-1, 60pts, 0.588%)
6. Rapid City Rush (21-22-5-3, 50pts, 0.490%)
7. Utah Grizzlies (17-28-5-2, 41pts, 0.394%)
8. Allen Americans (13-30-7-2, 35pts, 0.337%)

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Steelheads are 5-3-2-1 against the Rush this season including 2-0-0-0 in Rapid City. Five of the first 11 meetings have been decided beyond regulation with nine games being decided by just one-goal. Rapid City has outscored Idaho 40-37 as Deni Goure and Ryan Wagner have five goals and seven assists each for the Rush while Ty Pelton-Byce leads the way for Idaho with eight including a pair of multi-goal outings in Rapid City back in November and his first professional hat-trick back in Boise on Dec. 20 scoring an overtime winner. Pelton-Byce has also added four assists in the season series while Hank Crone and Matt Register each have two goals and 10 assists. 

Idaho is (9-for-42, 21.4%) on the power-play vs. Rapid City as Pelton-Byce paces the way with three tallies. Idaho is (23-for-30, 76.7%) on the penalty kill vs. the Rush. 

The Steelheads are averaging 37.63 shots for per games against the Rush having tallied 40 or more shots in four of the 11 games while Rapid City is averaging 33.82 shots for per game as Idaho’s 17 shots allowed back on Nov. 16 was a season low against. 

Ben Kraws is (2-0-1) against Rapid City with 4.55 goals against average and .864 save percentage. He made 23 saves on Nov. 22 in a 6-5 win at The Monument Arena in his lone road appearance. Matt Radomsky is (4-0-1) against Idaho with 3.51 goals against average and .910 save percentage making 31 saves in a 5-2 win for the Rush back in Boise on Feb. 8. Connor Murphy is (1-2-0) with 2.29 goals against average and .930 save percentage while Christian Propp is (1-1-1) with a 3.70 goals against average and .900 save percentage. 

SHINING STEELHEADS

- #2 Trevor Zins has appeared in all 51 games this season and tallied two assists Saturday for the second time this season.  

- #6 Wade Murphy has a point in eight of his last nine games (5G, 5A). 

- #9 Brendan Hoffmann has seven points (4G, 3A) in his last nine games.  

- #17 Ty Pelton-Byce has nine points (3G, 7A) in his last eight games. 

- #18 A.J. White has six points (2G, 4A) in his last nine games. 

- #26 Jade Miller has three points (2G, 1A) in his last three games. 

- #29 Connor MacEachern has 13 points (9G, 4A) in his last eight games. 

- #43 Matt Register has appeared in all 51 games and has seven points (1G, 6A) in his last nine games.  

- #67 Hank Crone has 17 points (3G, 14A) in his last 11 games.  

TEAM NOTES

GETTING THE FIRST 
Idaho has taken a 1-0 lead in four of their last five games and in 10 of their last 13 games since Jan. 24 posting a record of 6-0-3-1. Idaho has scored first in four straight road games and in five of their last six games.  

ROAD WARRIORS
The Steelheads will play six straight games away from the Idaho Central arena beginning tomorrow night having collected a point in 10 of their last 12 games on the road (7-2-3) since Dec. 27. Goaltender Ben Kraws is (8-1-2) on the road this season. 

GONE STREAKING 
The Steelheads have a point in 11 of their last 13 games (7-2-3-1) since Jan. 24 and in 13 of their last 16 games (8-3-4-1) since Jan. 17. 

OVERTIME, OVERTIME, AND SOME MORE OVERTIME 
Idaho has gone beyond regulation 17 times this season, second most in the ECHL beyond Orlando (21 games). The Steelheads have gone beyond regulation in 10 of their last 16 games. Wade Murphy scored his first overtime winner on Saturday night while Hank Crone and Ty Pelton-Byce each have two overtime goals this season. Brendan Hoffmann and Connor MacEachern each have one. 

TIGHTLY CONTESTED
The Steelheads are 14-3-7-1 in one-goal games this year while Rapid City is 10-6-5-3.  

POWER-PLAY SURGES
The Steelheads have a power-play goal in four of their last five games (7-for-25, 28%) and in six of their last eight games (10-for-34, 29.4%). They’re (15-4-4-1) when scoring a power-play goal and (6-2-3) when notching a multi power-play goal game. 

SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS EVERYBODY 
Idaho recorded a season high 52 shots on Saturday night, tied for fourth most by any ECHL team this season, while their 25 in the first period were the most by any team in the league this year in the opening 20 minutes and tied for the second most in any period this season. The Steelheads have outshot their opponents 130-71 over their last three games including 48-23 in the first period, 37-25 in the second period, and 38-21 in the third period. 

DROP THE GLOVES 
Captain A.J. White recorded his first fighting major on Saturday night since Nov. 16, 2016 (559 games) while Jade Miller notched a Gordie Howe Hat-Trick. It was the second time this season Idaho has registered two fights in one game, the other coming at Rapid City on Nov. 23. The Steelheads have 19 fighting majors on the season with a record of (13-3-0-1) including (6-0-0-1) on home ice and (7-3) on the road. 

ACTIVE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Goals: Connor MacEachern (23) – 2^nd ECHL rookies, Tied 6^th all skaters 
Assists: Matt Register (38) – 1^st ECHL defensemen, 4^th all skaters
Points: Hank Crone (49) – Tied 9^th all skaters
Plus/Minus: Matt Register (+24) – Tied 4^th ECHL defensemen, Tied 7^th all skaters 
PIMs: Brendan Hoffmann (55) 
PPGs: Ty Pelton-Byce (10) – 3^rd all skaters
GWGs: Ty Pelton-Byce (4) – Tied 4^th all skaters 
Shots: Brendan Hoffmann (158)   
Wins: Ben Kraws (14) 
GAA: Ben Kraws (3.09)
SV%: Ben Kraws (.908) 

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