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 Idaho Steelheads

Sellout crowd sees wild Steelheads victory

December 28, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Boise, ID - A sellout crowd of 5,064 saw a player's first professional goal, one of the strangest goals ever at CenturyLink Arena, a late rally from the visiting team and ultimately a shootout victory Saturday night as the Idaho Steelheads defeated the Ontario Reign, 4-3, in Boise.

Idaho (18-10-3, 39 points) maintained its lead in the ECHL's Pacific Division with the win. The crowd was Idaho's largest of the season.

The visiting Reign struck first when Matt White scored off a rebound at 2:46 of the first period, his ninth, to make it 1-0. Idaho answered quickly at 5:52 when Colin Shea intercepted a clearing attempt, stepped toward the top of the left-wing circle, and feathered a wrist shot through traffic past the glove of Joe Cannata to tie the game at one. The goal, unassisted, was the first of Shea's professional career.

Idaho took the lead at 9:22 on one of the most unlikely goals ever seen at CenturyLink Arena. Alex Belzile gathered a loose puck in the neutral zone beyond the red line. He turned and sent the puck back toward the Idaho offensive zone, but it ricocheted off of Ontario's Derek Couture, high in the air toward the offensive zone. Cannata lost sight of the puck, which careened higher than the arena's new, center-hang scoreboard. As Cannata looked toward the left-wing corner for the puck, it landed behind him and just bounced inside the right-wing post. The goal was Belzile's 13th of the season and gave Idaho a 2-1 lead after one period.

In the second, Cannata extracted a small measure of revenge when he robbed David deKastrozza on a short-handed breakaway but Idaho extended its lead nonetheless at 11:36 when Patrick Cullity netted his first goal of the season from the top of the left-wing circle. Colton Beck and Steve Quailer picked up assists on the marker that extended Idaho's lead to 3-1. Idaho nearly grew the lead even more but shots from Quailer, Brett Robinson and Wade MacLeod just missed in the closing moments of the period.

Ontario turned it up in the third period, pressuring Idaho's net heavily over the first eight minutes. The Reign got one goal back at 7:58 off a face-off win when Judd Blackwater's shot just snuck past Olivier Roy's glove to make it 3-2. Idaho appeared to stem the tide of the momentum as the period wore on but, with just over two minutes to go and the net empty in favor of an extra attacker, Ontario's Geoff Walker slipped a soft wrist shot from the left-wing circle into the back of the net to tie the game at 3-3.

After a scoreless overtime session, Idaho buried three of four shootout shots as deKastrozza, MacLeod and Belzile all beat Cannata. At the other end, Roy shut down Walker, Blackwater and Maxime Kitsyn to secure the victory and the second point in the standings for Idaho.

Roy picked up his 15th win - tied for most in the ECHL - with 27 saves on 30 shots. Cannata took the loss with 23 saves on 26 shots. Idaho did not have a power play in the game but the penalty-kill unit was a perfect two for two.

The Steelheads are on the road next week at Colorado with games Friday and Saturday. The team returns home on Friday, January 9, to host the Alaska Aces. Tickets are available online at www.idahosteelheads.com or by calling 208-331-8497.


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