Steelheads Sink Roadrunners 6-1
by Andrew Nordmeier
November 6, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Phoenix RoadRunners
The Idaho Steelheads showed why they are the best team in the ECHL by dominating both ends of the ice in their 6-1 win over the Phoenix Roadrunners Saturday night at America West Arena.
Idaho improved to 7-1 by scoring a pair of power-play goals and reeling off six unanswered goals after Phoenix scored first. Both teams were playing their third game in as many nights but Idaho looked like the fresher team in the third period of the game where the difference was made. A pair of line brawls marred the game and caused about 40 minutes in delays.
"It's been the story of our team so far," Roadrunners Head Coach Ron Filion said, "We can't put together three good periods of hockey. It's a lack of desire."
Phoenix (3-5) only trailed 2-1 heading into the final period but the Steelheads scored a pair of goals four minutes apart to leave little doubt about the outcome.
D'Arcy McConvey beat Phoenix goaltender Mathieu Chouinard at the 1:10 mark to put Idaho up by two. McConvey found himself left wide open in the slot and zipped a bullet high to glove side of Chouinard for his fifth of the year and a power play goal.
Idaho went up 4-1 when Marty Flichel was the recipient of a 2-on-1 breakaway and he tapped the puck behind Chouinard at 8:36. The lead grew to 5-1 when David Barauk found the rebound of his own shot and pumped it past Chouinard to remove all doubt about the outcome. Barauk scored a power-play goal, his second of the night, with 49.3 seconds left to close the scoring.
Phoenix got its lone goal 5:32 into the opening period when Shawn Snider bagged his fourth of the season when he knocked the rebound of Cory Pecker's shot past Steve Silverthorn who had little chance to stop the near-perfect shot.
As for the two line brawls, one happened in the middle of the second period and the third one came with 1:26 left on the clock. The one in the second period came at the 9:42 mark and killed the momentum Phoenix had. The Roadrunners were charging strong trying to tie the game but had to wait and wait, and wait through about 17 minutes of delays while penalties were trying to be assessed by referee Jason Nissen. After that point, Phoenix seemed to lack drive on the offensive end.
The one at the end of the game was sheer frustration and Pecker was in the middle of it. He took a high hit and Shawn Snider came to Pecker's defense. Pecker chopped at a man and that sent everyone on the ice into bedlam. All 10 skaters were going at it and Chouinard skated out 120 feet trying to goad Silverthorne into a fight.
The league will review the tapes of the game to determine what suspensions and/or fines could be assessed from this game with a league-high 185 penalty minutes including four game misconducts, five 10-minute misconducts and nine fighting majors.
These two teams meet again in December in Phoenix right before the Christmas break. Phoenix hosts the Long Beach Ice Dogs Wednesday night while the Steelheads host the Alaska Aces in a three-game set starting Wednesday night.
"I really don't know what to say now," Filion said, "There are lots of things I want to say but I can't say."
Three Stars
3. Snider-PHX; Lone Roadrunner goal
2. Zion-Idaho Goal and two assists in the win
1. Flichel-Idaho Goal and two assists to push Idaho to 7-1.
Notes: Phoenix gave up three power-play goals in a game for the third straight night and Idaho finished 3-of-7 on the power play while Phoenix went 0-for-7 with the extra skater... The Roadrunners missed on a pair of two-man advantages, each lasting more than 70 seconds...Phoenix was horribly out shot 44-24 and finished with just 63 shots on the three-game weekend; the 44 shots are a season-high for the Steelheads...Attendance was 4,013
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- Steelheads Sink Roadrunners 6-1 - OSC Original by Andrew Nordmeier
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