ECHL Idaho Steelheads

STEELHEADS: Game Day Storylines- at Alaska

January 25, 2017 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


The Steelheads took four points from the Tulsa Oilers over the weekend, and their road trip to end the month of January continues on Wednesday night with their first visit this season to Anchorage and a three-game series with the Alaska Aces at Sullivan Arena. The Steelheads come into the series with a six point lead over the Aces in the Mountain Division standings, though the Aces have three games in hand on Idaho. The Steelheads are 4-1-1 this season against the Aces, with all prior meetings held at CenturyLink Arena.

The Steelheads had to grind out a defensive win on Sunday in Tulsa, riding two first period goals to a 2-1 win over the Oilers. Anthony Luciani and Jefferson Dahl both scored in the opening 20 minutes to erase an early one-goal deficit, while Branden Komm stopped 46 shots to earn his 11th win of the season. The Steelheads have points in ten of their past 11 games (8-1-2) and in five consecutive road games (4-0-1).

Firing First...

The Steelheads had to overcome an early Oiler goal on Sunday, a rarity of late for the Steelheads. Idaho has scored the first goal in seven of nine games in January. The Steelheads are 15-4-2 this season in games in which they score first, the tenth-best points percentage in the ECHL.

Eleven for Looch...

Anthony Luciani's goal on Sunday extended his points streak to a career-high 11 games, with seven goals and 15 points in that span. Luciani's streak is the longest active run in the ECHL, and has propelled the first-year Steelhead to the team lead in goals (17) and points (40). Luciani's linemate Joe Basaraba is also filling the net, scoring eight goals in the last 12 games and collecting 13 points in his last 13 outings.

Space at Sullivan...

The Steelheads' first game at Sullivan Arena this season means their first game on an Olympic ice sheet, with the wider ice surface and deeper corners likely to require adjustments. Corbin Baldwin, who already draws a significant amount of the shutdown assignments on the Idaho blue line, will have even more terrain to cover in front of the Idaho net against a team that averages the third-most shots per game in the league. It's a task he's well-prepared for, having played plenty of hockey at Sullivan Arena during the 2014-15 season when he played 53 games as a member of the Aces. Baldwin is a plus-7 and has four assists over his last 11 contests.

About the Aces...

The Aces are 5-5-0 over their last ten games and are coming off a 6-3 loss on Saturday in Utah. The Aces boast two of the best offensive players in the ECHL, with Peter Sivak leading the league with 30 goals and ranked second with 54 points. Sivak has six goals and nine points during his current six game points streak. Linemate Stephen Perfetto, the league's third-ranked scorer, has been even better in recent weeks. Perfetto has points in nine of his last ten games, with ten goals and 17 points during that stretch. The Aces have games in hand on every team in the Mountain Division and have gone 15-7-3 against Mountain Division opponents this season. Their .660 winning percentage against divisional opponents is the best among Mountain Division teams.

Idaho Leaders Aces Leaders

Goals: Luciani (17) Goals: Sivak (30)

Assists: Dahl (26) Assists: Perfetto (27)

Points: Luciani (40) Points: Sivak (54)

Plus/Minus: Bell (+12) Plus/Minus: Sivak (+21)

Power Play Goals: Merchant (7) Power Play Goals: Sivak (6)

Goals-Against Average: Komm (2.48) Goals-Against Average: Carr (3.01)

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics



ECHL Stories from January 25, 2017


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