ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Ontario Outlasts Idaho in Entertaining Affair

March 18, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


(Boise, ID) - Jason Beeman scored in the eighth round of a shootout and Michael Neal's ensuing attempt to tie the game clanged off the post behind Ontario goaltender J.F. Berube, allowing the Ontario Reign to escape Saturday night, defeating Idaho, 3-2, in a shootout.

Idaho (27-30-9) leads the ECHL with 19 games that have gone beyond regulation, 14 of which have gone to a shootout (also tops in the ECHL).

By taking the game to a shootout, Idaho earned one point in the standings and has now has gained points in six of its last seven games.

The game was scoreless into the second period. Early in the second frame, Idaho goaltender Jerry Kuhn made a series of point-blank saves to keep Ontario off the board. In doing so, he moved past Ryan Munce and into second place on the ECHL's single-season saves list. With 29 stops on Saturday, Kuhn now has 1,871 saves this season. Brian Ecklund set the ECHL record with 2,194 saves in 2003-04 for the Pensacola Ice Pilots.

There were two fights in the second period, with former teammates Tommy Lange and Adam Maccarone dropping the gloves and Chad Nehring squaring off with Vincent LoVerde as twelve infractions were called during an intense period of action.

Ontario would break the scoreless tie at the 16:09 mark of the second on a Chris Cloud rebound goal and added a second goal when Geoff Irwin's shot from the left circle slipped under Kuhn's leg pad with less than a minute to play in the second to take a 2-0 lead into the second intermission.

The Steelheads broke through at the 5:26 mark of the second period when Jake Hauswirth stayed with a bouncing puck on the right-hand side of the Reign crease, knocking home his second as a Steelhead to cut Ontario's lead to 2-1. Then, less than 90 seconds later, a hard-working shift from Ian Lowe and Chad Nehring led to the game-tying goal. Lowe and Nehring kept the puck in the offensive zone, with Nehring feeding Matt Case at the top of the left-hand circle. Case's blast whistled over Berube's shoulder glove-side at 6:54 of the third to tie the game at two. It was Case's third goal of the season and it came in his first game since being returned to Idaho by the AHL's Texas Stars.

Neither side scored for the rest of regulation or the five-minute overtime session, sending the game to a shootout. Aaron Lewicki scored in the fifth round to tie the shootout up at one tally apiece. Neither side scored in the sixth or seventh round. In the eighth round, Beeman made a nice, backhand-to-forehand move at the top of the crease to get the puck past Kuhn. Idaho's chance to tie just missed as Neal beat Berube with a forehand, but the puck rang harmlessly off the left-hand post.

Neither team converted on a power play, with Ontario going 0-7 and Idaho going 0-4. Berube stopped 34 of 36 Idaho shots and seven of eight in the shootout to pick up the win. Kuhn was the tough-luck loser.

Idaho hosts the Utah Grizzlies Wednesday night at CenturyLink Arena in game with playoff seeding implications. It's Idaho Statesman "Kids Eat Free" Night as children 12 and under receive a voucher for a free Double R Ranch Hot Dog, small Pepsi, and bag of Tim's Cascade chips with their ticket. Puck drop is at 7:10 PM. Tickets are available by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office (208.331.TIXS) or by logging on to www.idahosteelheads.com.

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics



ECHL Stories from March 18, 2012


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