FRANCESCO ARCURI RECORDS CAREER HIGH FIVE POINTS AS STEELHEADS DOMINATE THE AMERICANS, 7-2

ALLEN, TX  – The Idaho Steelheads (36-23-8-1, 81pts) defeated the Allen Americans (16-41-8-3, 43pts) Saturday night by a final score of 7-2 in front of 6,273 fans at the Credit Union of Texas Event Center. Idaho is now tied with Wichita for the fourth and final playoff spot with four games to play, and one point back of Tulsa for third place. The Steelheads take on the Oilers in Tulsa Sunday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. (MT) 

The score after 20 minutes was tied at 1-1 with each team producing 10 shots on goal. Quinn Warmuth gave Allen the lead with a four-on-four strike at 6:29. Mason Nevers (2^nd) provided the equalizer from Demtrios Koumontzis with 6:06 to play in the frame. From behind the Idaho blue line Koumontzis flipped the puck out through center ice where Nevers picked it up at the attacking line. He went straight forward and from the left circle he sent a wrist shot upstairs past Luke Richardson tying the game. 

The Steelheads would take a 4-2 lead heading into the third period. Brendan Hoffmann (24^th) gave Idaho their first lead of the night making it 2-1 5:33 into the second period from Francesco Arcuri and Connor Punnett. From behind the Idaho blue line Punnett fed Arcuri through the neutral zone up the left wing side. Arcuri slid the puck in front of the attacking line where Hoffmann collected it and from the left face-off dot sent a shot short side past Richardson. Hoffmann (25^th) then with 5:04 to play in the stanza gave Idaho a 4-2 lead from Ty Pelton-Byce and Arcuri. Inside the right circle Arcuri delivered the puck to Pelton-Byce at the blue line where he sent a shot towards the net with Hoffmann tipping it home at the top of the crease. The Americans made it a one-goal game as Nick Issacson scored 1:40 later but Kaleb Pearson (10^th) stretched the lead back to a pair with a power-play score from Matt Register and Arcuri with 1:57 to play in the period. From the right corner Arcuri fed Register at the right point. Register then connected a pass over to Pearson in the left circle for a one-time drive making it 4-2. The Steelheads outshot the Americans 23-5 in the period.

Francesco Arcuri (8^th, 9^th) scored back-to-back power-play goals in the front half of the third period to give Idaho a 6-2 advantage. His first came at 7:38 from Patrick Kudla and Hoffmann. From behind the net Hoffmann swung the puck to the left wing wall for Kudla where he found Arcuri up top where he sent a wrist shot home. His second came at 9:34 from Register on a two-on-one where Register from the right circle fed Arcuri racing through the left circle. C.J. Walker (7^th) capped off the night making it 7-2 with 5:04 to play from Patrick Moynihan and Trevor Zins. 

Bryan Thomson made 22 saves on 24 shots in the win while Luke Richardson made 42 saves on 49 shots in the loss.  

BOX SCORE

ICCU Three Stars
1) Brendan Hoffmann (IDH, 2-1-3, +2, 8 shots)                           
2) Francesco Arcuri (IDH, 2-3-5, +2, 5 shots)                          
3) Nick Issacson (ALN, 1-0-1, +1, 2 shots) 

GAME NOTES

• Idaho finished 3-for-10 on the power-play while Allen went 0-for-2. 
• Idaho outshot Allen 49-24. 
• Christophe Fillion (DNP), Mason McCarty (IR), Reece Harsch (INJ), Parker Berge (IR), Mark Olver (IR), and Ryan Foss (DNP) did not dress for Idaho. 
• The Steelheads have won a season high four straight games outscoring their opponents 24-7. 
• Francesco Arcuri stretched his point streak to seven games (4-11-15) recording a career high five points (2G, 3A). 
• Kaleb Pearson scored for his second straight game and has points in four straight (3-3-6). 
• Brendan Hoffmann scored twice for his team leading seventh multi-goal game while recording an assist for his 13^th multi-point game. 
• Ty Pelton-Byce recorded an assist for the fourth straight game and has a five-game point streak (1-5-6). 
• Patrick Moynihan notched an assist and has points in back-to-back games (2-1-3). 
• Mason Nevers has a goal in back-to-back games to begin his pro career. 
• Demetrios Koumontzis has an assist in two straight games. 
• Matt Register tallied two assists for his second straight two assist game. 
• Patrick Kudla had an assist and has an assist in three straight games. 

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