ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads Pick up Fifth Straight Win

January 10, 2015 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Boise, ID - Jason Bast scored twice, Olivier Roy made 35 saves and the Idaho Steelheads' penalty-kill unit was a perfect eight for eight Saturday night as the home-standing Steelheads knocked off the Alaska Aces, 4-2, at CenturyLink Arena.

The win was the fifth in a row for Idaho (22-10-3), tying a season-best, in front of 4,881 fans.

For the second straight night, Idaho took control early with a strong opening frame. The Steelheads scored first at 6:24 on Jefferson Dahl's first North American professional goal. Defenseman Colin Shea picked up the puck near the left point and found Dahl all alone near the top of the crease. Dahl got the puck to his forehand and waited out Alaska goaltender Aaron Crandall before tucking the puck into the net to make it 1-0. Alaska tied the game less than a minute later when Greg Wolfe deflected a Bryan Cameron shot past Roy at 7:13 before Idaho took the lead for good at 12:59 on James Livingston's ninth goal of the season. Livingston carried the puck into the offensive zone and used an Alaska defenseman as a screen, beating Crandall glove side from the slot, to make it 2-1.

The Steelheads' lead grew late in the first on a long, cross-ice pass from defenseman Eamonn McDermott to Bast. McDermott played the puck from deep in his own end across the ice, through the neutral zone and off the boards at the Alaska bench. Bast read the bounce perfectly as he gathered the puck, skated in the left-wing side and slid a back-hand shot five-hole past Crandall at 19:36 to make it 3-1.

Alaska garnered the only marker of the second period when Wolfe forced a turnover in Idaho's defensive zone. After McDermott made an impressive play to deflect the puck away from Wolfe, it rolled right to Ryan Walters who snapped the puck home at 15:35 to make it a 3-2 game after two periods.

In the third, Idaho was forced into a penalty-kill situation four times with the one-goal lead, including 48 seconds of a two-man advantage for the Aces early in the period but Roy and the penalty-killers stood firm, denying all 12 Alaska shots to hold the one-goal lead. With less than a minute to go and the Alaska net empty in favor of an extra attacker, Bast dumped the puck behind the Aces net where Colton Beck won a battle to keep the puck alive. Beck then fed the puck back out front to Bast, who was all alone at 19:20 for the game-cinching empty-net goal. For Bast, the two goals gave him a team-best 18 tallies on the season.

Roy turned in another solid performance, stopping 35 of 37 shots for his ECHL-best 18th win. Crandall took the loss, allowing four goals on 27 shots. Idaho's penalty-kill went 8-8, making the unit 29 for its last 31, while the power play was 0-4. With two assists, McDermott now has five helpers in his past four games while Livingston has six points (two goals, four assists) over his past four games.

The team's season-long six-game homestand continues on Tuesday night when the Utah Grizzlies come back to Boise for the first time since the home opener (Oct. 18). Tickets are available online at www.idahosteelheads.com or by calling 208-331-8497.

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ECHL Stories from January 10, 2015


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