ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Ontario overcomes early deficit to edge Idaho

Published on December 26, 2014 under ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Boise, ID - The visiting Ontario Reign battled back from a two-goal deficit Friday night, defeating the Idaho Steelheads, 5-4, in a shootout in front of 4,735 fans at CenturyLink Arena in Boise.

Idaho (17-10-3) did gain one point in the standings and still lead the Pacific Division with 37 points. But Ontario inched to within two points of Idaho with 35 by virtue of the comeback victory.

The Steelheads started strong after the brief holiday break, putting together a solid opening 20 minutes. Idaho took the early lead at 8:39 when Wade MacLeod pulled the trigger himself on a two-on-one rush, beating Jussi Olkinuora over the blocker from the right-wing circle, for his 12th goal of the season. Idaho added another at 13:31 on the power play when Jason Bast carried the puck down the left-wing side and somehow spotted Ludwig Karlsson flashing down the slot. Bast delivered a perfect pass to Karlsson for a one-timer from the hashmarks, Karlsson's fifth, to extend the lead to 2-0. The Steelheads limited Ontario to just six shots on net despite three power-play opportunities, each of which Idaho was able to kill off.

The second period was a 20-minute exhibition of punch/counter-punch. First, it was Ontario cutting into Idaho's lead with a Derek Couture shot from the right-wing face-off dot at 4:14. Just over two minutes later, Brett Robinson re-directed an Alex Belzile shot past Olkinuora on the power-play at 6:38 to re-extend the lead to 3-1. Robinson's sixth was also assisted by MacLeod, who leads Idaho with 30 points on the season. The Reign again chipped back on a Gaspar Kopitar shot from the slot that appeared to deflect off an Idaho player and flutter into the net at 12:57 but, again, Idaho would re-establish the two-goal lead on Troy Vance's first goal of the season at 14:56. Both Gaelan Patterson and David deKastrozza won individual battles to keep the play alive before deKastrozza got the puck to Vance at the center point. Vance made a nice move to get loose coming down the slot and beat Olkinuora glove side to make it 4-2.

Ontario picked up a key goal in the closing seconds of the second on the power play when Rocco Carzo tapped home a loose puck from the right-wing post with just 15 seconds left in the frame, allowing Ontario to cut Idaho's lead back to one, 4-3, going into the third. The Reign tied it at 6:27 of the third when a shot from the perimeter bounced off Vincent Arseneau for his first goal of the season. Both teams had opportunities late, but the score remained deadlocked at 4-4 going into overtime. The best scoring chance of the overtime session came from Ontario's Judd Blackwater, who was robbed from the left wing by the glove of Olivier Roy.

In the game-ending shootout, Geoff Walker and Dennis Brown scored in the opening two rounds for Ontario. None of Idaho's four shooters could find the back of the net, allowing Ontario to steal the second point in the standings going into Saturday night's matchup between the same two teams at CenturyLink Arena. Game time is 7:10 PM. Tickets are available online at www.idahosteelheads.com or by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office at 331-8497.

Olivier Roy took the loss, making 25 saves in live play, while Olkinuora got the win with 31 saves on 35 shots for Ontario. Idaho's power-play unit went 2-4 while the penalty-kill unit was 4-5.

MacLeod (goal, assist) and Vance (goal, assist) registered multi-point nights in defeat for Idaho.

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