LOVELAND, Colo. – Landon Bow stopped 31 shots, all five shootout attempts, and earned his third win of the season as the Idaho Steelheads (4-4-1) earned their third win in the past four games, a 2-1 shootout victory over the Colorado Eagles (4-2-3) at Budweiser Events Center. Joe Basaraba netted the only goal of the five-round breakaway contest to seal the Steelheads’ victory.
Bow stopped two of the league’s top five scorers in the shootout, stopping Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Jesse Mychan before Basaraba’s forehand deke beat goaltender Kent Simpson. Bow also made two standout saves in the third period to get the Steelheads to overtime. Both involved Colorado rookie Cole Sanford, who entered the game tied for the rookie lead in goal-scoring.
With under five minutes to go in the third period, Sanford attacked the Steelheads zone on a 2-on-2 rush and was challenged by both Steelheads defensemen. Sanford slid a pass to the back post for Ryan Harrison with a wide-open net. Harrison went to dunk it in, but Bow dove across and snagged the puck out of the air with his glove to keep the game tied.
In the final seconds of regulation, Sanford again attacked 2-on-2, this time cutting through the defense for an in-close breakaway on Bow. The Steelheads’ rookie again slammed the door and swatted away the rebound as time expired.
In overtime the Steelheads were short-handed when Kyle Jean was called for slashing. Bow was strong again, but stand-out penalty killing and shot blocking from Corbin Baldwin, Zach Bell, and Travis Ewanyk helped Idaho survive through to the shootout.
The Steelheads trailed 1-0 entering the third period, and after 16 Simpson saves and two posts hit by Brian Nugent, the Steelheads took advanatge of an opportunity. Colorado’s Darryl Bootland attacked the Idaho net and after the whistle began throwing punches at Ewanyk. Bootland was given a four-minute penalty for roughing, and the Steelheads made him pay.
At 4:31 of the third period, Jefferson Dahl walked the puck the the top of the right circle and drilled a slapshot through Simpson to tie the game with his fourth goal of the season and third in the last two games. The goal extended Dahl’s points streak to a career-high seven games, giving him 12 points in that stretch.
Colorado opened the scoring at 4:35 of the first period, a power play goal by Luke Salazar that extended his goal-scoring streak to five games. Jake Marto and Pierro-Zabotel earned assists.
The Steelheads and Eagles meet again Saturday night to wrap up Idaho’s three-game road trip at Budweiser Events Center. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:05pm MT, available on ECHLTV and 1350AM KTIK.
With Idaho Steelheads release
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