ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Roy, Steelheads Out-Duel Aces

Published on December 13, 2014 under ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Boise, ID - Olivier Roy stopped 22 of 23 shots, including a brilliant glove save midway through the final frame to take a near-certain goal away from Bryan Cameron, as the Idaho Steelheads defeated the Alaska Aces, 2-1, in front of 4,584 fans at CenturyLink Arena in Boise.

Idaho (14-8-2, 30 points) nosed back into first place in the ECHL's Pacific Division with the win.

The home team struck early on an odd-man rush as Colton Beck fed the puck up the left wing to Brett Robinson. Robinson snapped a wrister from the left-wing circle past Niklas Lundstrom at 1:35 of the opening frame, his second of the season, to put Idaho on top, 1-0. At that point, the game turned physical as there were two fights in the opening frame as Idaho's James Livingston dropped the gloves with Alaska's Brad Cole and Idaho's Mike Dalhuisen squared off with Jacob Doty to bring the crowd to life.

The Aces started the second period with tremendous pressure. Steelheads goaltender Olivier Roy made two point-blank saves in the first 90 seconds to keep Alaska off the board before Idaho could get off its collective heels. At that point, there was a third fight - Idaho's Steve Quailer tying up with Colton Jobke - but Roy turned in another good save in close on Alaska's Justin Johnson to maintain Idaho's 1-0 lead. At 14:27 of the second, a Colten Hayes point shot snuck past Roy at the near post to tie the game at one. The Steelheads disputed the call, feeling that Roy was interfered with by Olivier Archambeault, who was behind Roy in the crease at the time, but referee Michael McCreary ruled it a good goal to leave the game square at one goal apiece going into the third period.

In the third, after combining for just 29 shots through the first two periods, both teams came out firing. Lundstrom robbed Livingston in tight on a redirect and got a shoulder on a Wade MacLeod shot from the left wing to keep the game tied until the 4:06 mark. Idaho's Jason Bast - just back from the American Hockey League - blasted a shot from the right-wing circle on Lundstrom, who appeared to make the initial save. However, Case noticed the puck had come loose near Lundstrom's leg pads as he raced in to jab home the loose puck for his first goal of the season to give Idaho a 2-1 lead.

Moments later, Alaska had its own odd-man rush into the zone. Brendan Connolly delivered a perfect feed from the left-wing wall to Cameron in front, who redirected the puck toward the net. But Roy was able to reach out and make a fantastic glove save to protect Idaho's lead. He would also make key saves later in the third on Archambeault and Raphael Bussieres as Idaho was able to grind out the one-goal victory. The two teams put 25 shots on net in the third period alone.

Roy picked up his 11th win with 22 saves on 23 Alaska shots. Lundstrom was solid in defeat for Alaska, making 30 saves on 32 Idaho shots on net. Neither team scored on the power play, with both squads going 0-3 on the man advantage.

The same two teams meet again Saturday night at CenturyLink Arena on Teddy Bear Toss night. Puck drop is 7:10 PM. Fans are encouraged to bring new, unbreakable toys to the game and throw them on the ice when Idaho nets its first goal of the night. The toys will be collected and donated to the US Marine Corps "Toys for Tots" campaign. Fans who do not bring a toy to the game will have the opportunity to buy one from the Idaho Steelheads booster club on the concourse. Tickets are available online at www.idahosteelheads.com or by calling the CenturyLink Arena box office at 331-8497.

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ECHL Stories from December 13, 2014


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