Steelheads withstand late Fresno rally, win 6-5 in OT
March 26, 2005 - ECHL (ECHL)
Idaho Steelheads News Release
BOISE, Idaho - The Idaho Steelheads let a 5-2 third period lead slip away, but Darrell Hay's goal 1:10 into sudden-death overtime gave Idaho its sixth consecutive win, 6-5 over the Fresno Falcons at the Bank of America Centre. With the win, Idaho gains two more valuable points in the race for the playoffs.
Fresno came out and scored less than a minute into the game, after Dan Tessier brought the puck in behind Idaho's net and from the corner fed Sam Ftorek who beat Idaho's Frank Doyle at 19-seconds. Idaho answered back with three quick goals. Mike Stutzel notched his 2nd as a Steelhead on the power play at 11:21, and Tim Verbeek gave Idaho the lead on a feed from Scott Burt just 30-seconds later. Again on the power play, Lance Galbraith, camped out in Fresno's crease, redirected a shot from Warren Peters past Jamie Hodson at 14:18.
The second period was scoreless until 13:09 when Fresno closed the gap to within one goal. The play was behind Idaho's net and the puck bounced out to a waiting David Brisson who beat Doyle at point-blank range 17:09. With 1:13 remaining in the frame, Idaho went on the power play and scored with 11-seconds remaining in the period. Stutzel tallied his second of the game with a shot that got by Hodson's right pad.
The Steelheads scored just 57-seconds into the third period after Bobby Russell gained control of the puck in Fresno's end and got the puck to Andrei Vasilyev in front of the net. Vasilyev passed back to Russell who tallied his team-leading 24th goal of the season. With a 5-2 lead, Idaho seemed to let down its guard a little and the Falcons tallied the next three goals. Derek Krestanovich backhanded a power play goal at 7:24, and Fresno pulled within one goal at the 14-minute mark with a tally from John Wroblewski. Then, with 2:25 remaining in the game, Lanny Gare took a shot that Doyle stopped with his right pad, but the puck trickled over the pad to tie the game sending it to overtime.
In the extra frame, Darrell Hay moved left to right, holding the puck while Hodson came out to cut down the angle and a defender dove to block the anticipated shot. Hay waited them both out and roofed the game-winner for his 7th goal of the year.
The final game of the three-game series will kick off tomorrow night at 7:10.
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