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ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads Outlast Eagles in Shootout

April 5, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Boise, ID - Taylor Peters' back-hand shot in the fifth round of the shootout got past the glove of Jacob DeSerres Saturday night, allowing the Idaho Steelheads to get past the Colorado Eagles, 3-2, in a shootout on Saturday night in front of 4,333 fans at CenturyLink Arena in Boise.

Idaho improved to 47-18-6 with the win, reaching the 100-point milestone in the standings for the second time since joining the ECHL for the 2003-04 season (2009-10, 103 points). With just one game left in the regular season - Wednesday, at home, against Utah - the team also ensured itself of finishing with fewer than 20 regulation losses for just the second time in the ECHL era as well (2009-10, 17).

The Steelheads survived an initial push from Colorado in the game's opening 90 seconds before wresting control. Shawn Boutin put a shot off the post and DeSerres robbed David deKastrozza and Jefferson Dahl in close to keep the game scoreless through the game's opening 20 minutes.

Idaho took the lead in the second on the power play. Levi Nelson carried the puck up the left-wing side and began to circle behind the net. Just before he reached the trapezoid behind the goal, he spotted Jesse Root near the top of the crease for the game's first goal at the 5:28 mark, giving Idaho a 1-0 lead. Wade MacLeod also assisted on the power -play marker, Root's eighth in just 14 games with Idaho this season.

Exactly one minute later, the lead grew. Steve Quailer played the puck from the center point down the slot where Jefferson Dahl got a stick on it. With Dax Lauwers all over him, Dahl managed to spin at the hashmarks to get the puck onto his forehand, snapping it over DeSerres' glove hand at 6:28 for his 13th goal of the season to extend Idaho's lead to 2-0. Colorado closed the gap on a Chris Knowlton power-play goal at 12:08 to trim Idaho's lead to 2-1 going into the third period.

Colorado tied the game near the mid-point of the third on a defensive-zone turnover as goaltender Olivier Roy left his crease in an attempt to play a loose puck out of the zone. But Colorado's Vitalijs Pavlovs intercepted and quickly shot the loose puck into the net vacated by Roy at 8:10 to knot the game at two goals apiece. Roy quickly refocused to make a pair of big saves on ensuing shifts, including denying Jordan Kwas from point-blank range on the back end of another turnover that gave the Eagles a 2-on-0 chance around the Idaho net.

Neither team could break the tie during the remainder of regulation or overtime, setting up the shootout. Brock Nixon and Kyle Kraemer netted goals for Colorado, but Idaho answered with tallies from deKastrozza and Wade MacLeod to even the ledger going into the fifth round. Colorado defenseman Loic Leduc came up empty, but Taylor Peters beat DeSerres with a backhand from the right edge of the crease to win the game for Idaho.

Roy got the win in net for Idaho, improving his personal record to 24-10-3. DeSerres took the loss in his second professional start, falling to 0-1-1. Idaho out-shot the Eagles for the night, 31-27, with Roy making 25 saves in the win. Idaho's power-play unit finished the night 1-7 while Colorado was 1-4.

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