IDAHO STEELHEADS WEEKLY – WEEK 24 – 4/3/25

BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (@Steelheads), proud ECHL (@ECHL) affiliate of the Dallas Stars (@DallasStars), picked up four out of a possible eight points last week in Tahoe and remain in the playoff hunt with six games remaining sitting three points back of the fourth and final playoff spot, while just four points from third place. 

THIS WEEK’S GAMES
Friday, Apr. 4 at Allen | 6:10 p.m. (MT) 
Saturday, Apr. 5 at Allen | 6:10 p.m. (MT) 
Sunday, Apr. 6 at Tulsa | 2:05 p.m. (MT) 

You can watch all three games on FloHockey. 

You can listen Friday and Sunday on KTIK The Ticket – 95.3 FM/1350 AM while you can listen Saturday on KBOI 670 AM.

LAST WEEK’S GAMES

Wednesday, Mar. 26 
Idaho (1) at Tahoe (5) 
Full Recap 
Box Score 
Wade Murphy struck on the power-play from Francesco Arcuri and Reece Harsch 2:25 into the game giving Idaho a 1-0 lead. From there the Knight Monsters scored five unanswered goals starting at 11:33 of the second period tying the score at 1-1 heading into the third period. In the front half of the third period Tahoe notched four goals in a stretch of 4:39. Ben Kraws made 28 saves in the loss. 

 Friday, Mar. 28 
Idaho (2) at Tahoe (3)
Full Recap 
Box Score 
Francesco Arcuri (1-1-2) gave the Steelheads a 1-0 lead from Connor Punnett and Wade Murphy with 4:40 left in the first period but Issac Johnson tallied a power-play goal with 22 seconds left sending the score into the first intermission tied 1-1. Jett Jones gave Tahoe a 2-1 lead 5:55 into the second period. The Steelheads converted on their fourth power-play of the night when Ty Pelton-Byce tied the game at 2-2 with 8:32 remaining in regulation for his league leading 13^th man advantage score. Tahoe’s Issac Johnson notched his second of the evening with 4:52 to play the eventual game winner. Idaho outshot Tahoe 40-17 including 21-5 in the third period. Wade Murphy tallied two assists joining Arcuri for a multi-point game. Jesper Vikman made 38 saves for his fifth straight win improving to (6-1) against Idaho this season. 

Saturday, Mar. 29 
Idaho (5) at Tahoe (0)
Full Recap 
Box Score 
Highlights 
The Steelheads found the back of the net four times in the back half of the first period in a stretch of 4:42 capturing a 4-0 lead. Wade Murphy (2-0-2) made it 1-0 at 14:15 from Francesco Arcuri and Matt Register. Then a minute later Brendan Hoffmann stretched the lead to a pair from Cristophe Fillion and Ryan Foss. 96 seconds later the Steelheads received their first power-play of the night and 36 seconds into the man advantage Murphy made it 3-0 at 17:27 from Ty Pelton-Byce and Arcuri. Then 40 seconds later Idaho went back on the power-play and 50 seconds in Nick Canade made it 4-0 from Reece Harsch and Ben Kraws with 63 seconds to play in the period. Kaleb Pearson scored Idaho’s third power-play goal on the night at 10:19 of the second period from Pelton-Byce and Harsch making it 5-0. Ben Kraws made 31 saves for his fifth shutout of the season while Idaho went 3-for-5 on the power-play and 7-for-7 on the penalty kill. 

Sunday, Mar. 30 
Idaho (5) at Tahoe (2) 
Full Recap 
Box Score 
Highlights 
Francesco Arcuri (1-1-2) scored on the power-play from Patrick Kudla and Kaleb Pearson 2:38 into the game. After the Knight Monsters tied the score with 3:16 to play in the first period A.J. White (2-0-2) scored on a penalty shot 90 seconds later giving Idaho a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes of play. Tahoe tied the game at 6:18 of the second period before Nick Canade (2-0-2) four minutes later struck from Ty Pelton-Byce and Wade Murphy giving the Steelheads back the lead. White increased the lead to a pair from Arcuri and Murphy 5:01 into the third period then Canade scored a short-handed goal from Brendan Hoffmann at 9:37 making it 5-2. Bryan Thomson made 21 saves in the win in his first game back since Feb. 17 (41 days). 

MOUNTAIN DIVISION STANDINGS
1. XY - Kansas City Mavericks (45-17-4-1, 95pts, 0.709%, 5 GR)
2. Tahoe Knight Monsters (40-22-4-1, 85pts, 0.634%, 5 GR)
3. Wichita Thunder (37-23-6-1, 81pts, 0.604%, 5 GR)
4. Tulsa Oilers (36-23-5-3, 80pts, 0.597%, 5 GR)
5. Idaho Steelheads (34-23-8-1, 77pts, 0.583%, 6 GR)
6. Rapid City Rush (29-29-6-3, 67pts, 0.500%, 5 GR)
7. Utah Grizzlies (22-37-6-2, 52pts, 0.388%, 5 GR)
8. Allen Americans (16-39-8-3, 43pts, 0.326%, 6 GR)

THIS WEEK IN THE MOUNTAIN DIVISION

Kansas City defeated Rapid City 5-0 on Wednesday. They meet Friday and Saturday in KC. 

Tahoe is at Utah Friday and Saturday. 

Wichita is at Tulsa Friday and host Allen Sunday. 

SHINING STEELHEADS

• #2 Trevor Zins has appeared in all 66 games this season. 
• #3 Nick Canade has three goals in his last two games. 
• #6 Wade Murphy has five goals in his last seven games and 10 points (5G, 5A) in his last seven games. 
• #8 Kaleb Pearson has six points (4G, 2A) in his last seven games. 
• #9 Brendan Hoffmann has six points (3G, 3A) in his last 10 games. 
• #11 Mason McCarty has eight points (2G, 6A) in his last 12 games. 
• #13 Francesco Arcuri has 19 points (6G, 13A) in his last 16 games. 
• #17 Ty Pelton-Byce has a point in 14 of his last 18 games (6G, 14A). 
• #18 A.J. White has six points (2G, 4A) in his last seven games. 
• #23 Demetrios Koumontzis has five points (2G, 3A) in his last six games.
• #24 Reece Harsch has five points (1G, 4A) in his last seven games.
• #27 Jason Horvath has an assist in six of his last nine games (8A) and 10 assists in his last 12 games. 
• #33 Ben Kraws has started 15 of Idaho’s last 17 games. 
• #43 Matt Register has appeared in all 66 games this season and has 12 assists in his last 19 games.   
• #47 Patrick Kudla has four points (3G, 1A) in his last seven games. 

AMONG ECHL LEADERS

• #17 Ty Pelton-Byce leads the league with 13 power-play goals while his 25 man advantage points are tied for fourth. 
• #33 Ben Kraws is tied for the league lead with five shutouts and is tied for fifth with 21 wins. Among league rookie netminders he is first in shutouts and tied for first in wins.  
• #43 Matt Register is second among league defensemen with 46 assists while his 51 points are fourth. His plus-28 rating is tied for fourth. He is fourth among all skaters in assists and tied for ninth in plus-minus. 

GONE STREAKING

• #3 Nick Canade has a goal in back-to-back games with three total. 
• #6 Wade Murphy has a five-game point streak (4G, 4A). 
• #8 Kaleb Pearson has a point in back-to-back games (1G, 1A). 
• #9 Brendan Hoffmann has a point in back-to-back games (1G, 1A). 
• #13 Francesco Arcuri has a five-game point streak (2G, 7A) and an assist in five straight games. 
• #17 Ty Pelton-Byce has a three-game point streak (1G, 3A) and an assist in two straight (3A). 

TEAM NOTES

AWARD WINNING
On Monday Wade Murphy was named ECHL Player of the Week after tallying seven points (3G, 4A) in four games at Tahoe last week. He scored a goal in a 5-1 loss on Wednesday, recorded two assists in a 3-2 loss on Friday, scored two goals in a 5-0 win Saturday, and added two more assists in a 5-2 victory on Sunday. It was the 22^nd time in franchise history the Steelheads have been recognized with the Player of the Week honors as Murphy is one 19 skaters to receive the recognition. On Wednesday Ben Kraws was named ECHL Rookie of the Month for the month of March where he went 7-4-0 in 11 appearances with three shutouts, a 1.92 goals against average and a .938 save percentage. He allowed two goals or less in seven of 11 games. He made at least 26 saves in 10 outings and had six games where he made 30 or more saves. It marks the second straight month the Steelheads have received the ECHL Rookie of the Month honor as Connor MacEachern was selected for February. Kraws is the 10^th Steelhead to be awarded the recognition and joins Josh Robinson (November 2012) and Matt Climie (December 2009) as one of three goaltenders to do so. 

GETTING THE LEAD
The Steelheads have scored first in seven straight games dating back to Mar. 19 where they’re 5-2-0. Collectively on the season they’ve taken a 1-0 lead in 34 of 66 games with a record of 24-3-6-1. 

DOMINATING FIRST
Idaho has outscored their opponents 14-2 in the first period over their last seven games since Mar. 19 having led in six of seven games through the first 20 minutes. The Steelheads are 18-2-1 when leading after the first period this year including 6-0-1 on home ice and 12-1-1 on the road. 

YOU COULD SAY IT’S ON A ROLL
The Steelheads power-play has scored a goal in a season long six straight games since Mar. 21 going (8-for-28, 28.6%). Since Feb. 28 Idaho has scored at least one power-play goal in 10 of 14 games going (16-for-52, 30.8%). They rank fourth in the ECHL on the season (53-for-234, 22.6%) and are 21-8-4-1 when scoring a man advantage including 9-3-3 when scoring more than one in a contest.  

THE PK IS CLICKING 
Idaho finished the month of March (48-for-52, 92.3%) in 13 games after going just (34-for-52, 65.4%) in 12 games during February. Heading into March the Steelheads were 24 out of 29 ECHL teams at 78.1% they now sit 12^th at 81.6%. They’re (33-for-34, 97.1%) in their last nine games since Mar. 14. 

HEY SHORTY HEY SHORTY 
Nick Canade tallied Idaho’s sixth short-handed goal of the season last Sunday. It was the first short-handed goal scored since Mar. 1 when Canade scored at Rapid City. The Steelheads are 6-0 when scoring a shortie this season including 4-0 on the road. 

IT’S A PENALTY SHOT GOAL?
A.J. White received two penalty shots last Sunday becoming the first player to receive two in one game. He converted on his first attempt ending Idaho’s streak of seven straight unsuccessful penalty shot attempts. The last goal scored was by Max French on Apr. 6, 2018 scoring on Jake Paterson in a 5-4 overtime loss vs. Allen. 

THE LAST TEN 
The Steelheads are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games outscoring their opponents 30-25. In their last seven games they’re 5-2-0 outscoring their opposition 26-12. Idaho had lost the previous three games where they were outscored 13-4. 

ROAD WARRIORS
Idaho kicked off seven straight games on the road last Wednesday night. They’re 18-11-4-0 away from Boise this season. Since Jan. 17 they’ve collected a point in 14 of 19 games with a 11-5-3-0 mark. The Steelheads will look to win three straight games on the road for the fourth time this season. They won four road games consecutively from Nov. 10-Dec.4. 

ACTIVE STATISTICAL LEADERS
Goals: Ty Pelton-Byce, Brendan Hoffmann (23) 
Assists: Matt Register (46) 
Points: Ty Pelton-Byce (57)
Plus/Minus: Matt Register (+28)
PIMs: Connor Punnett (96) 
PPGs: Ty Pelton-Byce (13)
GWGs: Ty Pelton-Byce (4) 
Shots: Brendan Hoffmann (195) 
Wins: Ben Kraws (21) 
GAA: Ben Kraws (2.88)
SV%: Ben Kraws (.911)