ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads beat Wranglers in OT, 4-3

Published on February 18, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


BOISE, ID- The Idaho Steelheads (28-16-3) scored four unanswered goals en route to a 4-3 overtime win over the Las Vegas Wranglers (26-21-5) in front of 3,060 fans at Qwest Arena in Downtown Boise. Matt McKnight followed a rebound and scored the game-winner for Idaho, who never gave up a goal after the conclusion of the first period.

The first period of tonight's game was all Wranglers, as Las Vegas got off to a 3-0 lead. Peter Ferraro scored twice in the opening frame, including one on the power play. Hugo Carpentier also scored for Las Vegas, capitalizing on a man-advantage; entering tonight, the Wranglers sported the league's worst power play unit.

Steelheads netminder Rejean Beauchemin held the Wranglers off the board in the second period, and the Steelheads were able to claw to within two goals with the frame's only goal. Kris Sparre held the offensive end as the Steelheads controlled on the power play, deked out of trouble through two wranglers, and ripped a shot home from the high slot area, beating Las Vegas goalie Matt Keetley. The goal was Sparre's 14th of the season, and it was assisted by Matt Stephenson.

The third period would be all Idaho, as the Steelheads netted a pair of goals to tie the game and send it into an extra frame. Mark Bomersback made it 3-2 when he tipped home a Ben Nelson shot at 11:17; Garett Bembridge also notched an assist on Bomersback's 16th of the season. Just over five minutes later, Garett Bembridge banged home a rebound for his 14th of the season, assisted by Bomersback and Trevor Ludwig. However, the game's turning point came midway through the third period when Beauchemin traveled well out of his net to poke-check and upend the Wranglers' Tyler Mosienko, who was heading in on a rush to the Steelheads end.

After regulation time, the Steelheads were a shot away from matching their season-high total for shots on goal. They had 45 through 60 minutes; the season high heading into tonight's game was 46 on December 19th, a game in which the Steelheads hosted Bakersfield.

At 1:13 of the overtime period, Matt McKnight scored on a rebound that resulted from an Adam Welch shot; Travis Wight also tallied an assist on the game-winning goal. McKnight's goal came on Idaho's 47th shot of the night, which is the new season high for shots on net.

Rejean Beauchemin was perfect after the opening period and earned the win, stopping 20 of 23 Las Vegas shots. His record improves to 12-8-2. Matt Keetley suffers the loss for Las Vegas, as his record falls to 1-2-0 in his time with the Wranglers. He stopped 43 of 47 Idaho shots in the game.

TONIGHT'S AQUAFINA THREE STARS:

MARK BOMERSBACK (IDH) PETER FERRARO (LV) TRAVIS WIGHT (IDH)

TONIGHT'S COORS LIGHT OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: MATT MCKNIGHT

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics

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ECHL Stories from February 18, 2009


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