BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (13-7-2-0) defeated the Trois-Rivières Lions (10-6-2-1) 4-1 Friday night at Idaho Central Arena. The Steelheads will complete their series with the Lions Saturday night for Idaho’s annual Teddy Bear Toss game, with puck drop set for 7:10 p.m. MST.
Idaho scored early and often in Friday’s contest, first getting on the board just 1:04 into the game on a breakaway goal from Francesco Arcuri, who raced in between the Lions’ defensemen after receiving a stretch pass from Jake Boltmann and beat goaltender Hunter Jones by the blocker to open the scoring.
Just over four minutes later Liam Malmquist added to the lead, putting home a rebound in front of the crease to give Idaho a 2-0 edge. Malmquist would add his second tally of the game with just under three seconds remaining in the first period, spinning and shooting from the left circle to beat Jones over the glove hand to give Idaho a 3-0 lead into the second period.
The second period featured much more physicality, with Robbie Holmes dropping the gloves against Morgan Adams-Moisan early in the frame and several post-whistle scrums littering the 20-minute period.
No goals were scored in the second, however, and next on the board in the third was the Lions, who gained a goal after Jake Boltmann inadvertently played a loose puck near the crease into his own net to cut into Idaho’s lead just 6:28 into the third. The Steelheads would finish strong, though, as Liam Malmquist completed his hat trick into the empty net at 18:56 for his ninth goal of the season and the game-sealing tally to give the Steelheads a 4-1 win.
Ben Kraws stopped 33 of 34 Trois-Rivières shots in the win, while Hunter Jones turned away 19 of 22 Idaho shots in the loss.
ICCU THREE STARS
- Liam Malmquist (IDH, 3-0-3, +3, 6 shots, hat trick)
- Francesco Arcuri (IDH, 1-1-2, +1, 3 shots)
- Jake Boltmann (IDH, 0-3-3, 0, +2, 0 shots)
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