ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Balanced Attack Helps Steelheads Hammer Salmon Kings 6-2

February 3, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Victoria, BC - Eleven skaters found the score sheet, as the Steelheads scored three, first period goals to bury the Victoria Salmon Kings 6-2 at the Saveon Foods Memorial Centre on Saturday night.

The win allows the Steelheads (23-17-2-1) to finish their five-game road trip at 3-1-1-0. The victory also helps them improve to 3-2-0-0 against the Salmon Kings (19-27-0-1) this year, ending the home team's franchise record, five-game winning streak.

At 2:27 of the first period, defenseman Kyle Peto banged home his fourth power play goal of the season and his sixth goal overall to put the Steelheads in front 1-0. Colin Shields and Marty Flichel drew the assists on Peto's goal from the slot, which banged off the post and the crossbar before bouncing over the goal line.

Less than two minutes later the Steelheads struck again when Lance Galbraith wristed a shot over the glove of Salmon Kings' goaltender Bryan Bridges and into the top right corner (16 saves) for a 2-0 lead. Winger Tuomas Mikkonen burst into the Salmon Kings' zone and muscled the puck into the slot for Galbraith who made no mistake with his opportunity, converting his 18th goal of the year.

Then, with just 58.5 seconds left in the first period the Steelheads increased their lead to three, as Galbraith led a two-on-one rush before feeding a perfect pass to defenseman Mike Gabinet who was barreling towards the far post. Gabinet made no mistake, slamming the puck past Bridges for his fourth of the campaign. Mikkonen collected the second assist on the play.

In the second period the Steelheads tacked on three more tallies. At the 3:00 mark Flichel took a Derek Nesbitt pass and rocketed a one-timer into the top shelf for his team-leading 21st of the season and a 4-0 Steelheads lead.

The Salmon Kings finally got on the board with their second shorthanded marker of the two-game set, on F.P. Guenette's ninth of the year at 8:19. Guenette was able to get behind defenseman Kory Scoran and make a move at the top of the crease to beat Steve Silverthorn (23 saves). Marc-Andre Bernier got the only helper, as the Steelheads allowed a shorthanded goal for the sixth time this season.

At 12:45 of the middle frame, Scott Burt collected his sixth of the season and his 300th professional, regular-season point, snapping a shot under the glove of Bridges for an even-strength goal. Shields and Taggart Desmet set up the play, making the game 5-1. That goal ended Bridges night, as rookie goaltender Alexandre Vincent (23 saves) came in to replace him.

The Steelheads would greet Vincent quickly, as Charlie Johnson gathered a loose puck in the slot and beat Vincent cleanly at 15:00 of the third. His seventh of the season came off assists from Blake Forsyth and Burt.

The Salmon Kings got the only tally in the third stanza when defenseman Seamus Young creeped into the slot and took a Milan Gajic feed, beating Silverthorn with a snap shot to the far post. The even-strength goal was Young's seventh and it came at 3:39.

For the contest, the shots favored the Steelheads 45-25. Silverthorn picked up his 19th win, while Bridges drops to 8-15-0-0. The Steelheads went one-for-three on the man advantage, and the Salmon Kings finished zero-for-three.

The Steelheads now get set to host the Salmon Kings for the first of three games at Qwest Arena, beginning on Wednesday, February 7. The puck drops at 7:10 p.m. MST. Steelheads' single-game tickets can be purchased via www.idahosteelheads.com (using the all-new, print-at-home feature), by calling 331-TIXS or from the Qwest Arena box office.

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