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Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads Fall as Allen Forces Game 7

April 27, 2016 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Boise, ID - The Western Conference Quarterfinal between the Idaho Steelheads and the Allen Americans will go the distance after the Americans' 4-2 win over the Steelheads on Tuesday night in Game 6 at Allen Events Center.

For the first time in the series, the team that scored the game's first goal did not come out on top. Tommy Fallen netted his second of the playoffs to give the Steelheads a short-lived lead before a second period Allen outburst decided the game.

At 12:57 of the first period, Fallen collected a pass from Radoslav Illo at the left point and fired a puck towards the right post the rattled of Greger Hanson's heel and into the net for a 1-0 Idaho lead. Just 1:15 later the lead was no more, as JP LaFontaine chased down Zach Bell in the Steelheads' zone, stripped the puck away, and fed former Steelhead Tristan King for his second of the playoffs to send the teams to the locker rooms tied 1-1.

When the teams came back out for the second period, the Americans wasted no time taking the lead. With Emil Molin in the box for high-sticking, Eric Roy took just eight seconds of power play time to make it a 2-1 game. Chad Costello took the puck in the right wing corner right off the face off and fed it through the slot to the left point where Roy crept in to fire a wrist shot past Desrosiers 33 seconds into the middle frame.

Matt Register made it 3-1 with his second of the playoffs with a drive from the high slot at 2:12 of the second. The Americans forced another turnover in the corner of the Steelheads zone before LaFontaine found the bouncing puck between the circles and fed it out to Register for the goal.

Another Register point shot at 9:24 of the second period turned into a power play rebound for Greger Hanson's third goal of the series. That goal ended the evening for Desrosiers, as Branden Komm came in for his first professional playoff action. Komm was solid, stopping 13 of 13 shots in 28:28 of work.

Rob Linsmayer cut the deficit in half with his second of the playoffs at 6:08 with a left wing wrist shot over Riley Gill's blocker, but that was as close as the Steelheads would get.

The Steelheads have played in just one Game 7 in the ECHL era, in which they were defeated by Las Vegas in the first round in 2006. The Americans played two Game 7s on their run to their first championship, winning both the Western Conference Final and the Kelly Cup Final in seven games last year.

Game 7 is Wednesday night at 6:05pm MT at Allen Event Center. The game is available on 1350AM KTIK and ECHLTV.

STEELHEADS STATS:

Goals: Fallen (2), Linsmayer (2)

Philippe Desrosiers: 10 saves on 14 shots; Branden Komm 13 saves on 13 shots.

Power Play: 0-for-3

Penalty Kill: 1-for-3

CENTURYLINK THREE STARS OF THE GAME

1. Eric Roy ALN

2. Tristan King ALN

3. Matt Register ALN

COORS LIGHT OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME

Rob Linsmayer: 1 goal, 3 shots

PLAY OF THE GAME:

The Steelheads scored the all-important first goal but their lead was short-lived, as a relatively innocent looking play instead led to a tie game and a turn in momentum. With Zach Bell going back into the Idaho zone with the puck, JP LaFontaine chased the him down from the neutral zone, picking Bell's pocket and whipping the puck to the front for Tristan King's tying goal. A strong start and lead was important for Idaho to have success. They got both but couldn't build on them, as Allen took over at the start of the second period capitalizing on more forecheck pressure.

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