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Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads: Game Day Storylines - Game 4, Mountain Division Semifinals

April 20, 2018 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Steel Reel

The Idaho Steelheads will be playing to extend their first-round playoff series on Friday night, as they fight off elimination at the hands of the Allen Americans in Game 4. The Americans seized a 3-0 series lead on Wednesday night at Allen Event Center with a 5-3 victory, and they will look to close out the series on home ice where they had lost four straight playoff games before their victory in Game 3.

For the third time in the series, the Americans opened the scoring in Game 3 with a goal in the first three minutes, as Braylon Shmyr scored at 2:08 of the first period against Tomas Sholl. The Americans would also get goals from rookies Mathieu Foget and JC Campagna, while Alex Guptill netted Allen's first power play goal of the series on a 5-on-3. Will Merchant, Justin Parizek, and Connor Chatham all scored for Idaho, while Sholl and Philippe Desrosiers both saw time in net.

Tightening Up...

The goals surrendered early in contests by the Steelheads have been uncharacteristic, as have their defensive numbers as a whole. Idaho finished the regular season ranked fourth in the league in goals against, averaging just 2.61 goals surrendered per game, while the Americans were tenth in the league in scoring at 3.26 goals per game. Those tables have turned, with Allen averaging the most goals per game in the playoffs and Idaho ranked tied for last defensively. The Americans have netted 13 goals in the first three games of the series despite only firing 82 shots, a shooting percentage of 15.6 percent. Idaho has yet to lead in the first three games of the series.

Playoff Parizek...

Despite their defensive troubles, the Steelheads have been getting pucks through goaltender Jake Paterson with seven goals over the last two games. Justin Parizek has been the most consistent performer for Idaho, with points in all three contests and goals in two straight following his second period tally in Game 3. Parizek finished the regular season with 60 points in 64 games, second on the team and second among all ECHL rookies. Parizek has two goals and four points in his first playoff action, after posting six goals and ten points in nine games against Allen during the regular season.

Fighting to Stay Alive...

The Steelheads are down 3-0 in a series for the fifth time in the ECHL era, and for the first time since 2011. In each of the first four instances, the Steelheads would go down in four games. Despite that history, the Steelheads have not lost four consecutive games since October 20th to October 28th, and 0-1-3 stretch against Utah and Quad City. The Americans have not swept a playoff series since Steve Martinson took over as coach prior to the 2012-13 season in Allen, but they have won 15 of 16 playoff series.

Idaho Leaders Americans Leaders

Goals: Harstad/Parizek (2) Goals: Four players (2)

Assists: Three players (3) Assists: Chouinard (3)

Points: Harstad/Parizek (4) Points: Shmyr/Makowski (4)

Plus/Minus: Parizek (+3) Plus/Minus: Chouinard (+8)

Power Play Goals: Harstad/French (1) Power Play Goals: Guptill (1)

Goals-Against Average: Desrosiers (2.77) Goals-Against Average: Paterson (3.00)

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics

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ECHL Stories from April 20, 2018


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