ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads' Climie shuts out Utah, 6-0

Published on February 24, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


BOISE, ID- The Idaho Steelheads (31-16-3) extended their win streak to five games and Matt Climie earned his second shutout of the season by defeating the Utah Grizzlies (20-18-15) 6-0 in front of 3,986 fans at Qwest Arena. Six different goal scorers contributed in tonight's win for head coach Derek Laxdal's club.

The first period saw the Steelheads climb out to a 2-0 lead. Garett Bembridge, who netted the game-winner with a top-shelf goal Saturday night against Las Vegas, went upstairs from just inside the blue line to beat Utah goalie Mike Mole for his 16th of the season. Kris Sparre and Trevor Ludwig assisted on the tally at 9:43 of the opening period. In the period's final minute, Ben Nelson exhibited great patience, weaved through defenders in front of Mole, and with the Utah netminder out of position, Nelson registered his 20th of the season to become the first Steelhead to reach 20 goals on the season. Sparre had the lone assist on Nelson's goal at 19:22.

Just as quickly as Nelson became the first Steelhead to 20 goals, Bryan McGregor became the second when he put the Steelheads up 3-0. After stellar puck movement from the McGregor-Mark Bomersback-Dan Welch line, McGregor found the back of the net. With the assist, Bomersback extended his point scoring streak to eight games.

Utah's best opportunity perhaps came at 16:00 of the second period, when Rob Hennigar took a penalty shot against Idaho goalie Matt Climie. Climie was up to the task, however, keeping the Utah Grizzlies off the board through two periods.

Dan Welch opened the third period scoring with his first of the season since coming to the Steelheads after playing in Denmark. Matt Stephenson and Sparre were credited with the assists at 3:07 of the final period as the score became 4-0 with Idaho in front. On the ensuing faceoff, Kyle Radke and Greg McCauley dropped the gloves for the game's only scrap, as the two exchanged right hands in repetitive fashion before the linesmen intervened.

Bomersback made the score 5-0 with his 18th of the season at 4:30, with McGregor and Kory Scoran notching the assists, before Matt McKnight added the last bit of insurance on the evening, making the score 6-0 at 12:07. Ludwig and Dan Welch had the assists on McKnight's ninth of the season. In the third period, Climie was perfect yet again.

With the shutout, Climie's record vaults to 18-9-1, as he stopped all 27 Utah shots he faced. Michael Mole falls to 12-15-11 on the campaign, as he stopped 37 of 43 shots for the Grizzlies. With the win, the Steelheads improve to 10-1-1 against Utah this season.

The Steelheads and Grizzlies meet again to wrap-up this homestand for Idaho. It will be the final regular season meeting for Utah at Qwest Arena. The puck drops at 7:10.

TONIGHT'S AQUAFINA THREE STARS:

MATT CLIMIE (IDH) DAN WELCH (IDH) KYLE RADKE (IDH)

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ECHL Stories from February 24, 2009


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