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Falcons' Three-Goal Comeback Ultimately Falls Short in OT

March 26, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Fresno Falcons News Release


BOISE, Idaho - The Fresno Falcons overcame a three-goal third period deficit to force overtime before the Idaho Steelheads' Darrell Hay delivered a 6-5 victory to his team with a goal 1:10 into the extra session at The Bank of American Centre. The overtime loss drops Fresno four points behind Idaho in the race for the final playoff spot in the West Division.

An evening after Idaho took a quick 2-0 lead on their way to a 5-2 victory in the first game of a three-game series, it was the Falcons that drew first blood just 19 seconds into the game tonight. Sam Ftorek blistered a one-time slapshot off a pass from Dan Tessier to give Fresno the early edge. The Steelheads caught fire mid-way through the period, though, scoring three times in a 2:57 span. Mike Stutzel started the rally with a power play goal at 11:21, which was followed 39 seconds later when Scott Burt found Tim Verbeek on the doorstep. Idaho struck again with the man advantage at 14:18 when Lance Galbraith re-directed a shot from Warren Peters past a besieged Jamie Hodson to give the Steelheads a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.

Fresno only generated three shots on goal during the second period but still managed to pull within one when Tessier found David Brisson for the latter's 17th of the year at 17:09. The Steelheads kept buzzing in the offensive zone, eventually drawing a cross-checking penalty on a scramble in front of Hodson. Idaho's power play then converted for the third time on the evening when Stutzel scored with 11.1 seconds remaining in the period to give the Steelheads a 4-2 lead as the teams skated to the third.

Idaho then put the game seemingly out of reach with another goal off a Falcons turnover just 57 seconds into the final period. Bobby Russell found the back of the net from Andrei Vasilyev to give the Steelheads a three-goal bulge, their largest lead of the evening.

Fresno began to chip away on the power play when Derek Krestanovich poked in a rebound at 7:24 for his 20th of the season. Then John Wroblewski jammed home another rebound at 14:00 to pull the visitors within one. Finally, with the teams skating four-on-four, Lanny Gare sent a wrist shot toward Idaho goaltender Frank Doyle from just inside the blueline, which fooled Doyle and trickled over the goal line for the game-tying goal at 17:35.

On into overtime the teams went tied at five. With Krestanovich injured in the offensive zone and struggling to get to his feet, the Steelheads took advantage of the odd-man situation in the Fresno end. Frank Lukes found Hay, who forced Hodson to commit before scoring the game-winner 1:10 into the extra session.

The come-from-behind effort gives the Falcons a point for their hard work, but they still lose ground to the Steelheads in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot out of the West Division. Fresno has 78 points this season, trailing Idaho by four points in the standings with a record of 35-22-8.

The Falcons and Steelheads play the final game of a three-game series tomorrow at 6 p.m. Pacific time. All of the live play-by-play action may be heard and/or seen live courtesy of B2 Networks by logging onto the Falcons home page at www.fresnofalcons.com. The audio-only webcast is free while the video webcast costs $6 and requires a high-speed internet connection.

Fresno returns home following this five-game road trip that also includes stops in Las Vegas and Bakersfield to host the Alaska Aces on Saturday, Apr. 2, at Save Mart Center at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale for as low as $8 per seat and may be purchased directly at the Save Mart Center box office and all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 485-TIXS (8497) or online at www.ticketmaster.com.



ECHL Stories from March 26, 2005


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