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ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Game Day Storylines- at Alaska

January 28, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Steel Reel

The Steelheads return to action on Saturday night looking to snap a two-game losing streak in their series finale with the Alaska Aces at Sullivan Arena, the final game of their five-game road trip. The Steelheads, sitting in third place in the Mountain Division, maintain a one point lead over the Aces in the division standings with the Aces holding three games in hand.

The Steelheads have jumped to early 2-0 leads in both games of this series, but they have been unable to hold them. Will Merchant scored just 24 seconds into the first period on Friday night and then fired a power play shot that was tipped in by Jefferson Dahl at the midway mark of the opening frame. The Aces would then score six unanswered goals, with each member of the Tim Wallace-Stephen Perfetto- Peter Sivak line finding the back of the net en route to a 6-2 Alaska win. Branden Komm relieved Philippe Desrosiers in net at the end of the first period, stopping 12 of 16 shots the rest of the way.

Much about Merch...

Will Merchant's two-point night against the Aces was his fourth multipoint game in his last 11 contests. Merchant has six goals and 14 points in his last 12 games dating back to New Year's Eve. He has been one of Idaho's best players this season facing the Aces, scoring four goals and ten points in eight meetings between the teams this season. Merchant now has 31 points to rank ninth among ECHL rookies in scoring.

Minding Moynihan...

While Peter Sivak and Stephen Perfetto have certainly impacted the first two games of the series, the Steelheads also need to find an answer for Daniel Moynihan. The rookie scored to tie Wednesday's game at 3-3 in the third period, and he scored again on Friday to tie the game 2-2 late in the first period. Moynihan has 13 goals this season, but he has scored six of them and added two assists in eight games against Idaho.

Good on Glen...

David Glen notched two assists on Friday, his second career multipoint game and first since making the transition to defense. Glen has been a valuable addition to the blue line for Idaho, registering a goal and three assists along with a plus-7 rating in 11 games and now ranked second on the team with a plus-10 rating for the season.

Idaho Leaders Aces Leaders

Goals: Luciani (18) Goals: Sivak (32)

Assists: Dahl (27) Assists: Perfetto (30)

Points: Luciani (42) Points: Sivak (59)

Plus/Minus: Bell (+12) Plus/Minus: Sivak (+23)

Power Play Goals: Merchant (7) Power Play Goals: Sivak (7)

Goals-Against Average: Komm (2.67) Goals-Against Average: Carr (3.01)

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ECHL Stories from January 28, 2017


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