ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Big third period lifts Idaho past Ontario

Published on February 26, 2011 under ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


(Ontario, CA) - Aki Seitsonen had two goals and three assists as the Idaho Steelheads ran away from the Ontario Reign in the third period Friday night for a 7-2 victory in Ontario.

Both of Seitsonen's tallies came in the third period, where Idaho equalled a season-best with four markers in the period.

For the ninth time in Idaho's past eleven games, the opposition struck first as Justin Taylor scored on the power play to give the Reign a 1-0 lead with just over a minute left in the first period. However, just one minute later, Idaho got the equalizer on a well-executed 3-on-2 rush. Cody Purves got the puck in the middle of the ice to Steve Oleksy. Oleksy slid a perfect pass to Mark Derlago and Derlago beat Mike Zacharias to tie the game up with just two seconds left in the period.

Oleksy and Evan Barlow each netted second-period goals to take a 3-1 lead into the third period.

That's when Idaho's offense kicked into high gear. At 2:04 of the period, Bear Trapp backhanded a rebound past Zacharias to make it 4-1 Idaho. After a CJ Stretch goal tightened things up at 4-2, Seitsonen restored order at the 9:09 mark with assists from Trapp and Geoff Irwin. Just two minutes later, Irwin scored after a Seitsonen shot banged hard off the back boards and, finally, at 16:04, Irwin fed Seitsonen for Idaho's seventh and final tally of the night.

Seitsonen, Irwin, and Trapp all finished plus-4 for the evening and combined for eleven points (four goals, seven assists).

Adrien LeMay, a 21-year-old rookie reassigned to the Steelheads by the AHL's Texas Stars prior to the game, turned aside 27 of 29 Ontario shots to pick up the win. He is now 1-0 with Idaho. Mike Zacharias stopped 38 of 45 shots in the loss for Ontario.

Idaho and Ontario do battle again Saturday night at the Citizens Business Bank Arena. The game can be heard live at 8 PM in the Boise area on KTIK (1350-AM).

Idaho returns to Qwest Arena on Wednesday, March 2, to face the Western Conference-leading Las Vegas Wranglers. It's part of a three-game homestand with games Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday against the Wranglers. Tickets are available at www.idahosteelheads.com or by calling 208.331.TIXS.

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