BOISE, ID – The Salmon Kings and Steelheads entered this first ECHL quarter finals with a chip on their shoulders and a reason to erase some not so pleasant memories from the season. Seeded 2nd and 3rd in the National Conference bracket neither team came into the round with much wind in their sails.
The Kings came out strong in the opening twenty minutes and peppered Steelies’ netminders Matt Climie with 16 shots but little to show for the effort. Climie stopped everything he faced including a rare playoff penalty shot from Victoria’s Wes Goldie. That save boosted the energy in the Qwest arena.
Idaho broke through near the mid-way mark of the second when Matt McKnight converted a feed from Mark Bomersback at the 8:32 mark of the period.
Through two periods the Salmon Kings were unable to solve Matt Climie who was recently reassigned from the Dallas Stars in time for this series. His counterpart was solid in net except for the McKnight goal.
It was not until the 7:14 mark of the third that Climie was finally beaten. Olivier Labelle took a pass from Chris St Jacques and knotted the score at one.
With Labelle’s marker in the book it seemed to give the Kings a way to solve Climie and Brady Leavold followed with Victoria’s second goal on the night off assists from Matt Kelly and Adam Taylor. The goal came at 14”30 of the third.
Centerman Shaun Landolt then followed at the 18:22 with a shorthanded tally to stretch the Kings’ lead to 3-1. The Steelheads had been pressing with the man advantage and were caught deep in the zone.
Victoria’s Ford allowed the lone goal to McKnight but was otherwise solid in outdueling Climie for the win and the 1-0 series lead.
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