ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Idaho Wins Valentine's Day Slugfest over Bakersfield

February 15, 2014 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Boise, ID - Brett Robinson scored two goals and added an assist on Friday night to help the Idaho Steelheads pick up an intense, 4-3 victory over the Bakersfield Condors at CenturyLink Arena.

Charlie Dodero (goal, assist) and Luke Judson (two assists) also registered multiple points as Idaho improved its overall record to 25-17-5 with the victory in front of 3,938 fans.

Looking for an early spark, Idaho got it with a two-on-one rush right out of the chutes. Matt Walters fed the puck to Gaelan Patterson, who found Rob Linsmayer with a cross-ice pass from the left wing to the right-wing circle. Linsmayer snapped Patterson's pass past Laurent Brossoit just 30 seconds into the game, giving Idaho a 1-0 lead. Bakersfield answered five minutes later short-handed when, after two near-misses for the Steelheads on the power play, the Condors were able to counter-attack for a short-handed, two-on-one rush that was finished from the left wing by Erik Burgdoerfer at 5:46. The Condors nearly grabbed the lead midway through the frame, but Joel Broda was denied on a brilliant glove save by Idaho goaltender Josh Watson.

Another rush gave Idaho the lead back in the second. William Rapuzzi carried the puck in the right-wing with Tyler Elbrecht on the rush. Rapuzzi waited for Elbrecht to get in front of the play before dropping the puck to the trailer, Robinson, for a hard wrist shot from the slot past Brossoit at 7:15, making it 2-1. The lead would extend at 10:41 when Charlie Dodero ripped home a one-timer from the inside edge of the right-wing circle off of a mishandled puck behind the Bakersfield net. It was generated by a tremendous forecheck by Robinson and Judson, who each picked up assists on Dodero's second of the season.

The Condors cut into the lead with 22 seconds left in the second when Wes Cunningham's wrap-around attempt appeared to deflect off an Idaho stick and past Watson, making it a 3-2 game in favor of the Steelheads going into the third period.

The Steelheads picked up a big insurance goal early in the third as Robinson fought through the back-checking Broda to carry the puck across the top of the crease, waiting out Brossoit before lifting his second of the night - 11th of the season - into the net past the sprawled-out netminder at the 5:46 mark. Bakersfield inched closer on a Gary Steffes power-play goal at the 11:37 mark and had two big flurries inside of the final minute with an extra attacker on the ice in an attempt to tie the game, but Watson and the Idaho defense was able to withstand the pressure.

Tensions from the hard-fought, physical contest boiled over late in the game as Broda, Steffes, and Dodero were each issued ten-minute misconduct penalties inside the final four minutes of play. Jordan Knackstedt picked up a game misconduct for continuing an altercation as well.

Watson picked up his first win with the Idaho Steelheads, turning aside 25 of 28 shots. Laurent Brossoit took the loss, allowing four goals on 30 shots in just under 59 minutes before being pulled for an extra attacker. He had allowed just four goals in the previous 299 minutes (five games) against Idaho.

Idaho's power play was 0-5 while Bakersfield went 1-6 on the man advantage.

The same two teams wrap up their three-game set on Saturday with the Steelheads continuing to wear special jerseys to be auctioned off to raise money for the Jayden DeLuca Foundation. Tickets for both games are available by calling 208-331-8497.

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 15, 2014


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