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RoadRunners Rally Past Steelheads 3-2

April 3, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners News Release


BOISE, Idaho - Mitch Carefoot snapped a tied contest with a power play goal with 5:24 remaining in regulation and Mark O'Leary scored a pair of goals to lift the Phoenix RoadRunners to a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Idaho Steelheads before 4,271 at Qwest Arena in ECHL action Friday.

Idaho (43-24-4) got on the scoreboard first beating the game clock in the closing seconds of the opening period when Bryan McGregor's shot trickled through the pads of RoadRunners' goalie Kyle Jones and in with 0.4 seconds on the clock for a 1-0 lead.

The RoadRunners (30-36-5) netted the equalizer at 4:18 of the second period with Idaho on the power play to tie the score at 1-1. T.J. Campbell tapped the puck across the slot to O'Leary who snapped it through the pads of Steelheads' goalie Kurtis Mucha for a shorthanded tally. But the Steelheads would take a 2-1 lead before the end of the period as Matt McKnight punched home a McGregor rebound at 10:25 on the power play.

O'Leary potted his second goal of the game at 6:18 of the third off a broken play when the puck bounced out to him in the slot and he snapped the puck over Mucha's shoulder off the cross-bar and into the net to tie the score at 2-2. Carefoot netted the game-winner on the RoadRunners' seventh power play of the night when he fired home a one-timer past Mucha off a centering feed from Chase Trull in the right-wing corner. Idaho pulled Mucha for the extra attacker, but the Steelheads could not muster the equalizer.

Idaho out-shot Phoenix 37-29. Jones stopped 35 shots to improve to 9-15-2 on the season. The RoadRunners went 1-8 on the power play while Idaho was 1-7 with the man-advantage.

Notes: The RoadRunners won 30 games for the first time in their four-year ECHL tenure...O'Leary netted the RoadRunners' club-record 14th shorthanded goal of the season...Phoenix won for the fifth time in 30 games when trailing after two periods, also a new ECHL club record, while the Steelheads lost for the first time in regulation in 30 games when leading after 40 minutes...Idaho captain Marty Flichel tallied his 40th point lifetime against Phoenix with an assist on McKnight's power play goal.

The RoadRunners conclude their 2008-09 season against the Idaho Steelheads at 6:10 p.m. Saturday at Qwest Arena in Boise. Catch all the action on Independent 1310 KXAM beginning with "RoadRunners Countdown" at 6:00 p.m.

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