ECHL Idaho Steelheads

Steelheads Second Period Burst Aids 5-3 Win Over RoadRunners

Published on December 29, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release


Phoenix, AZ - Four unanswered goals in the second period allowed the Steelheads to skate to a 5-3 win over the RoadRunners at the US Airways Center on Saturday night.

The win is the second straight for the Steelheads (14-10-7) and their fourth in four tries against the RoadRunners (10-14-5) this season, as they improved to 16-5-0 against the RoadRunners all time.

Midway through the first period the RoadRunners struck for the first of two quick goals to take a 2-0 lead. At 10:40, Scott Kelman blasted a shot past Kellen Briggs (23 saves) with Jeff Kyrzakos and Justin Maiser collecting the assists. Less than two minutes later, Daniel Sisca converted on a RoadRunners power play as he took Peder Skinner's pass in the high slot and ripped a shot over the blocker of Briggs, who was screened on the play.

Despite out-shooting the RoadRunners 13-7 the Steelheads trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes of play.

The Steelheads four-goal, second period outburst began at 4:18 when Taggart Desmet beat Cody Rudkowsky (31 saves) for his 11th of the campaign. On the power play, Desmet grabbed a rebound off Marty Flichel's point shot and jammed it into the back of the net. Alexander Naurov picked up the second assist.

Just over four minutes later Blake Forsyth finished off a scramble in front of Rudkowksy by poking the puck just over the goal line with Lance Galbraith and Darrell Hay getting the helpers. It became 3-0 when Colin Sinclair netted a power play goal at 11:29 of the stanza, with Matt Craig drawing the lone assist.

Galbraith capped the frame's scoring with the eventual game-winner, and his 12th of the season, at 18:53. Craig and Flichel registered the assists on the Steelheads third man advantage marker of the period and Galbraith's third game-winner in the last five games.

Sean O'Connor pulled the RoadRunners to within 4-3 with the club's second power play goal of the game at 7:32 of the third period. Skating through center RoadRunners' defenseman Ian Turner danced around Hay in the Steelheads' slot before sliding the disc to a wide open O'Connor for a tap-in tally, his 14th of the campaign.

Sinclair then sealed the win with 51 seconds left, scoring an empty-netter for his first two-goal game as a professional. Craig earned his third assist on the marker.

The final shots favored the Steelheads 36-26, as the two teams combined for five power play goals. The win helped Briggs record jump to 7-4-1, while Rudkowsky is now 5-10-3.

The Steelheads continue their three-game series with the RoadRunners on Monday, December 31. The puck drops at 3:00 p.m. MST. All the action can be heard live on 1350 AM, KTIK "The Ticket" or via the B2 Networks. Don't forget, Steelheads' single-game tickets can be purchased via www.idahosteelheads.com (using the print-at-home feature), by calling 331-TIXS or from the Qwest Arena box office.

Check out the Idaho Steelheads Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from December 29, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central