ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Idaho Wins Longest Game in ECHL History to Advance

Published on April 29, 2014 under ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Boise, ID (4/28/14) - David deKastrozza tapped home a Gaelan Patterson centering feed at the 17:18 mark of the fourth overtime well after midnight on Monday night, lifting the Idaho Steelheads to a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Eagles in the longest game in ECHL history. The win propelled Idaho on to the ECHL Western Conference semifinals, presented by KeyBank, where the team will face the Alaska Aces.

Idaho won the best-of-seven quarterfinal over Colorado four games to two. The Steelheads will open the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday in Anchorage against the Aces.

The total game time (137:18) surpassed the previous ECHL record by over ten minutes, topping the four-overtime marathon played by Elmira and Trenton in 2009 that lasted 126:10. The actual time from puck drop to final goal was five hours, 42 minutes.

Colorado took a two-goal lead in the second period on an Alex Hudson goal at 2:29 of the middle frame and a Luke Fulghum redirection at 13:45 to go up 2-0 after forty minutes. Idaho's calling card all season has been third-period offense and, once again, it came through in the early stages of the third. First, a Jason Bast rush up the right-wing side turned into a goal-mouth scramble that was knocked home by Patterson at the 2:04 mark of the third to cut Colorado's lead in half at 2-1. The goal extended Patterson's post-game goal streak to three straight games. Then, just 16 seconds later, Charlie Dodero flipped a puck through neutral ice to Brett Robinson, who dropped the puck at the blue line to Justin Mercier. Mercier veered to the left and snapped a shot from the left-wing circle over Marc Cheverie's glove at 2:20 to tie the game at two goals apiece. Idaho would have one last opportunity during regulation play on the power play but could not convert as the game headed to overtime.

In the first overtime session, both goaltenders - Cheverie for Colorado and Josh Robinson for Idaho - pulled a series of Houdini acts. First, it was Cheverie diving across the goal mouth in the opening moments to deny Luke Judson of what appeared to be a sure goal. At the other end, Robinson snuffed out a pair of goal-mouth scrambles and denied Kyle Kraemer on a breakaway to keep the game going. Finally, late in the overtime, Cheverie used the glove to rob Brett Robinson from the hashmarks to ensure a second overtime.

It was more of the same in the second and third overtimes as the goaltenders continued to pile up save after save. Cheverie recorded 15 saves in the second overtime, Robinson collected 19 between the second and third extra sessions. Several of which, for each goaltender, had a high degree of difficulty. Charlie Dodero hit a post in the second overtime for Idaho while Fulghum nearly ended the game with a nifty move through the slot in the third overtime.

The pace slowed in the fourth overtime as the two teams searched for the energy to push forward. Each team notched six shots on net in the final frame, giving Robinson 83 saves for Idaho, tying an ECHL record (Brian Ecklund, Pensacola, 2004) and Cheverie turned aside the first five shots he saw in the fourth overtime.

Finally, Idaho broke through. deKastrozza, Rob Linsmayer and Russ Sinkewich battled to keep the puck alive along the right-wing wall of the offensive zone. Linsmayer collected in the corner, stepped around Daniel Johnston and skated the puck behind the net. He found Patterson open near the hashmarks in the left-wing circle and Patterson quickly rolled the puck across the slot to the right edge of the crease where deKastrozza knocked it home to send what was left of an announced crowd of 2,333 into delirium.

As Idaho celebrated, the exhausted Eagles team literally collapsed onto the ice at the conclusion of the longest game in the history of the ECHL. The two teams also set an ECHL record for most combined shots on net - 151 (COL 85, ID 66). Kraemer and Rapuzzi led their respective teams with ten shots on net apiece and only one of the 32 skaters for the teams failed to register at least one shot on net (Colorado defenseman Jason Beatty).

Idaho now advances to the Western Conference semifinals to face old rival Alaska. The best of seven series begins in Anchorage on Thursday:

Game 1: Idaho at Alaska, Thursday, 9:15 PM (Mtn)

Game 2: Idaho at Alaska, Friday, 9:15 PM (Mtn)

Game 3: Alaska at Idaho, Monday, May 5, 7:10 PM (Mtn)

Game 4: Alaska at Idaho, Wednesday, May 7, 7:10 PM (Mtn)

Game 5 (if necessary): Alaska at Idaho, Thursday, May 8, 7:10 PM (Mtn)

Game 6 (if necessary): Idaho at Alaska, Saturday, May 10, 9:15 PM (Mtn)

Game 7 (if necessary): Idaho at Alaska, Sunday, May 11, 9:15 PM (Mtn)

Tickets for Games 3 and 4 in Boise will go on sale at the CenturyLink Arena box office on Tuesday or by logging on to www.idahosteelheads.com. The team will also host free "watch parties" at the SportZone inside CenturyLink Arena for all of the road games. Doors open one hour prior to puck drop (8 PM).

COORS OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME - David deKastrozza (GWG)

CENTURYLINK THREE STARS: 1) Josh Robinson (ID) 2) Marc Cheverie (COL) 3) David deKastrozza (ID)

Group outings at a Steelheads game are a great way to gather friends, colleagues, or co-workers for a fun night out in downtown Boise. Ticket prices are discounted and you can get a Pepsi, Double-R Ranch Hot Dog, and bag of Tim's Cascade Chips with each ticket. Contact the Steelheads front office at 208.383.0080 or log on to www.idahosteelheads.com for more information.

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics

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ECHL Stories from April 29, 2014


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