ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Game Day Storylines- vs Colorado

Published on January 11, 2017 under ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Steel Reel

The Idaho Steelheads grabbed five of six points against the Alaska Aces last week and now prepare for a Colorado Eagles team making its first visit of the season to CenturyLink Arena. The Eagles have won back-to-back games and enter the series two points ahead of Idaho in the Mountain Division standings. The Steelheads are riding a five-game points streak (4-0-1) and are 2-2-1 against the Eagles this season, with all prior games held at Budweiser Events Center.

The Steelheads surrendered a two-goal lead late in Saturday's game against the Aces. Stephen Perfetto's late goal was followed by a Tim Wallace equalizer with 25 seconds remaining, and Steven Tarasuk netted the winning goal just 30 seconds into overtime to defeat the Steelheads 5-4. Will Merchant, Anthony Luciani, and Joe Basaraba found the back of the net for Idaho, while Branden Komm stopped 30 shots in the overtime defeat.

Home Cooking...

The Steelheads have earned points in nine of their last 11 games at CenturyLink Arena (8-2-1), dating back to November 25th. The Steelheads have been one of the league's most efficient teams on home ice, their 28 points at home the third-most in the ECHL. Their performance in Boise is already ahead of last year's pace as well. The Steelheads have won 13 games at CenturyLink Arena, a mark they didn't reach last season until February 27th.

Scoring Streaks...

Two players who powered the Steelheads' offense against Alaska will look to continue their solid streaks against the Eagles. Will Merchant scored twice on Saturday, giving him three goals and eight points during a four game points streak. Anthony Luciani has scored goals in three straight games, matching Idaho's longest goal-scoring streak this season, and he's added three assists in a larger five-game points streak. Merchant has a goal and four assists against Colorado this season, while Luciani has three goals and an assist.

Talent with Talons...

The Steelheads will have to keep an eye on several Eagles who have had strong performances in the five meetings between the teams this year. Casey Pierro-Zabotel has recorded at least a point in each game against Idaho this season, totaling a goal and five assists. Jesse Mychan has netted four goals and an assist, while Luke Salazar has a goal and three assists in the season series. Matt Register leads all ECHL defensemen in scoring, and he's grabbed two goals and six points in his last three games against Idaho.

Idaho Leaders Eagles Leaders

Goals: Ewanyk (14) Goals: Mychan (21)

Assists: Dahl (24) Assists: Register (27)

Points: Dahl (35) Points: Pierro-Zabotel (39)

Plus/Minus: Bell (+12) Plus/Minus: Register (+18)

Power Play Goals: Merchant (6) Power Play Goals: Mychan (7)

Goals-Against Average: Komm (2.59) Goals-Against Average: Saunders (2.31)

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics

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ECHL Stories from January 11, 2017


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