BOISE, ID. – The Idaho Steelheads (20-9-3-0) defeated the Greensboro Gargoyles (7-16-5-1) 5-3, on Wednesday night at Idaho Central Arena. The two teams will be back in action to continue the three-game set on Friday, with puck drop set for 7:10 p.m. MST from Boise.
Freshly anointed ECHL All-Star Brendan Hoffman lit the lamp on a dazzling dangle through the Greensboro defense and deposited the puck into the top right corner to give the Steelheads a 1-0 lead at the 10:46 mark of the first period.
Later in the frame Robbie Holmes extended the Idaho lead to 2-0 after stealing the puck from the Gargoyles and slipping the puck past Greensboro netminder Ruslan Khazheyev on a wrap-around bid.
Six minutes into the second period Greensboro cut the deficit to 2-1 as Logan Nelson caught a neutral zone stretch pass from Deni Goure and deked around Ben Kraws for his fifth goal of the season. Hoffmann returned the favor by netting his second goal of the night four minutes later after rocketing a one-timer from the top of the right circle by Khazheyev.
Greensboro struck early in the third period to cut the deficit to one on a second-chance goal from Ryan Richardson for his fifth tally of the season. The Gargoyles then evened the contest up at the 6:49 mark as Anthony Rinaldi struck from in tight to get Greensboro’s second goal in just under four minutes.
While the Gargoyles displayed their quick-strike abilities to start the period, the Steelheads soon got to work showing theirs, as just 13 seconds after Rinaldi scored Jade Miller restored Idaho’s lead on a bullet from the blue line that whizzed by Khazheyev for his seventh goal of the season.
After protecting their late lead, the Steelheads finally found their insurance marker after Francesco Arcuri nabbed an empty net goal with just 42 seconds remaining in regulation to secure the 5-3 win.
Idaho’s Ben Kraws made 37 saves on 40 shots in the win. Greensboro’s Ruslan Khazheyev turned aside 31 shots in the loss.
ICCU THREE STARS
- Brendan Hoffmann (IDH 2-1-3, +1, 4 shots)
- Robbie Holmes (IDH 1-1-2, +2, 3 shots)
- Logan Nelson (GSO 1-0-1, +1, 5 shots)
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