ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads corral Wranglers, 4-3

February 12, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


LAS VEGAS, Nevada - The Idaho Steelheads entered into tonight's game in Las Vegas against the Wranglers with a ‘must win' mentality. And, the intensity between the two teams was evident from the start with both squads fighting for a playoff spot. However, it was Idaho who came out on top with a 4-3 victory. The win gives the Steelheads its first three-game winning streak since a November 19th win in Las Vegas.

Idaho outshot Las Vegas 32-20 on the night. Idaho netminder Frank Doyle improved his record to 19-11-2; while Marc Magliarditi fell to 8-12-2.

Head coach John Olver said after the game, "Vegas came out with a lot of energy and they took it to us early in the game, but then they played undisciplined and we were fortunate to be able to take advantage of them on the power play. Our guys were extremely disciplined, and did a great job of taking whatever Vegas gave us."

Three double minor penalties led to four goals in the first period of play. Las Vegas tallied first at 5:58 on a goal by Darren Lynch that squeezed by Doyle. But, Idaho came back with three unanswered power play goals, two from defenseman Jonathan Zion (15:12; 17:13) and one from forward Frank Lukes (16:12), ending the period with Idaho ahead by two.

Jason McBain closed the gap to within one at 3:07 of the third period. Idaho regained the two-goal lead when captain, Dan Vandermeer scored high, short side, on a pass from newcomer Tim Verbeek. Then, Vegas, on the power play, came back again to within one, just :82 seconds after Idaho's goal. That's as close as they'd get, as Idaho held the one-goal lead through the remainder of the game.

Of note: Idaho signed forward Tim Verbeek today and added him to the lineup tonight. Verbeek had last played for the AHL Utah Grizzlies during the 2003-04 season.

The two teams play the second of the two-game set tomorrow night at 8:05 MST.

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics



ECHL Stories from February 12, 2005


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