BOISE, ID. – The Idaho Steelheads (33-16-4-0) fell to the Wichita Thunder (22-20-4-4) 3-2 Wednesday night at Idaho Central Arena. The Steelheads and Thunder finish their two-game set from Boise on Saturday, with puck drop set for 7:10 p.m. MST.
The Steelheads opened the scoring on Wednesday late in the first period, as Mitch Wahl took a Jeff Baum feed and blasted the puck by Wichita goaltender Matt Davis from the left circle for a 1-0 Idaho lead in the final five minutes of the first period.
In the middle frame, the Steelheads extended their advantage, taking a two-goal edge on a goal by Nick Portz, who deflected a Jake Boltmann point shot into the net for an insurance tally just under three minutes into the period.
After the Steelheads failed on a penalty shot attempt from Nick Canade, the Thunder got on the board, as Kirby Proctor capitalized on a Steelheads turnover at 16:14 of the second period to cut the Idaho advantage in half heading into the third period.
The Idaho lead was wiped out quickly to start the third, as Jay Dickman scored on an odd man rush for Wichita to net his 14th goal of the season and tie the game 2-2 just 44 seconds into the final period.
In the final stages of regulation, the Steelheads were awarded a power play, but it was the Thunder who took advantage. Nick Nardecchia gained a shorthanded breakaway and beat Ben Kraws early in the power play to give Wichita their first lead with just 5:20 remaining in regulation.
The Steelheads thought they had tied the game shortly after, when Robbie Holmes scored from close range on Davis during a later power play, but after initially calling the goal good, the officials decided to wave the tally off due to a hand pass in the offensive zone.
The Steelheads got back to work trying to find another equalizer but were unable to get even again before the final buzzer, falling 3-2 to the Thunder to begin their two-game set.
Idaho’s Ben Kraws stopped 19 of the 22 shots he faced in the loss, while Wichita’s Matt Davis turned aside 30 of 32 shots in the loss.
ICCU THREE STARS
1) Matt Davis (WIC, 30 saves, win)
2) Mitch Wahl (IDH, 1-0-1, +1, 2 shots)
3) Kirby Proctor (WIC, 1-0-1, +2, 2 shots)
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