Steelheads drop Roadrunners 4-2
by Andrew Nordmeier
March 2, 2006 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners
For the Phoenix Roadrunners, Wednesday night's 4-2 loss to the Idaho Steelheads was significant for two reasons. First, it brought the Roadrunners' elimination number to 10 as any combination of Idaho points and ones Phoenix doesn't get was reduced.
More importantly was the loss suffered when defenseman Paul Ballantyne got his foot caught in a rut on the ice early in the second period, fell at an awkward angle and broke his leg, which ends his season. Some reports said it was the fibula while others said it was the femur. Either way, with just 19 games left, Phoenix will be short a couple defenseman for the rest of the season. The other one is Shaun Fisher who suffered a shoulder injury that's worse than originally thought.
D'Arcy McConvey scored twice and Jarad Bourassa and David Bararuk each picked up to assist to lead Idaho to the win
McConvey started the scoring for Idaho (30-18-7) when he took the puck and slipped it past a helpless Phoenix netminder, Michael Mole, at 14:27 of the opening period for his 25th of the season.
Phoenix (18-32-3) responded with a Brad Woods one-time bomb from the left point that cleanly beat Steelheads' goaltender Steve Silverthorn at 6:31 to knot the score at 1-1.
The tie didn't last long as Bourassa beat a screened Mole with shot from just inside the blue line at 9:50 to give Idaho a 2-1 lead. Phoenix roared right back with a Shawn Snider goal at 10:22 when he blew around a trio of Idaho defenders before zipping the puck over Silverthorn's left shoulder.
The game-winner came when Blake Forsyth beat Mole at 16:16 for his second goal of the season. McConvey blew around the Phoenix defense for the lone goal in at 14:07 of the third period and knocked Phoenix out for the count in this one.
Idaho outshot Phoenix 30-27 and finished 1-of-7 on the power play. Phoenix finished 1-of-4 on the power play, Woods' goal coming on a two-man advantage.
After a day off Thursday, Phoenix will wear white and Idaho dons the pink for the return engagements between these two teams on Friday and Saturday night at Qwest Arena. The Roadrunners will be looking to snap their four-game road streak.
Three Stars
3. Bararuk-IDH Two assists
2. Bourassa-IDH Goal and an assist
1. McConvey-IDH Two goals
Notes: Phoenix allowed the first goal for the 39th time this season (8-28-3)...McConvey is tied with Columbia's Leon Hayward and Utah's Ryan Kinasweich for the most first goals in the ECHL with seven...Phoenix was just five seconds shy of two full games without a goal when they finally got on the scoreboard in the middle period...Woods' goal was his first since January 21st against Utah...Idaho and Gwinnett are tied for the league lead in power play goals with 80 each...Silverthorn is 4-0-0 against Phoenix this season allowing just six goals for a goals against average of 1.50...Only Stockton has more losses (33) than Phoenix (32) following this game...Stockton (0-2) and Phoenix are the only two teams to have not beaten Idaho this season. They are a combined 0-7 against the Steelheads...Phoenix is tied with Pensacola for the fewest double-digit goal scorers in the ECHL with four.
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