NORTH CHARLESTON, SC — Tomas Sholl stopped all 32 shots he faced on Thursday night to earn his first ECHL shutout and guide the Idaho Steelheads (36-20-7) to a 3-0 win over the South Carolina Stingrays (39-14-7) at North Charleston Coliseum.
Sholl made eleven saves in the final period, including several in close on South Carolina captain Joe Devin. Protecting a 1-0 lead in the third, Devin took a feed from defenseman Paul Geiger who slid the puck from the right point to the bottom of the left circle. Sholl snow-angeled across the crease from left post to right and kicked the Devin shot away his left pad, following with another save as rookie Conor Lemirande spun the rebound back into his body. Minutes later Sholl robbed Taylor Cammarata from between the circles and saw the rebound attempt flicked wide.
Sholl made another save on Lemirande midway through the second period while Idaho was shorthanded. Steven Whitney slid a pass through the Idaho crease from the right of Sholl to Lemirande, who tapped it towards the open net. Sholl reached back with the paddle of the stick to drag the puck away from the goal line, at that time keeping the game scoreless.
Idaho took a 1-0 lead following another side-to-side save by Sholl on Devin, the rebound fired out to the neutral zone by Brady Brassart. Cole Ully raced in 2-on-2 and wheeled wide on Geiger, breaking in alone on Stingrays goaltender Parker Milner. Milner made the initial save, but Eric Sweetman finished the rebound for his seventh goal of the season at 18:49 of the second period.
The Steelheads made it 2-0 at 8:39 of the third, shortly after Sholl’s snow-angel save on Devin. AJ White went into the far corner of the Stingray zone hard on the forecheck, ripping the puck away from rookie defenseman Derek Pratt and feeding Connor Chatham between the circles. Milner made the initial save, but Chatham followed up to finish the rebound for his 12th goal of the season and second in as many games for a 2-0 lead.
Jack Nevins would get his ninth goal of the season, and first as a Steelhead, with an empty-net goal with 1:18 remaining, sealing just the seventh regulation loss on home ice this season for the Stingrays. Nevins also earned his first fighting major as a Steelhead at 1:56 of the first period, dropping the gloves with Marcus Perrier.
Chatham and White both posted two-point nights.
Sholl is undefeated in eleven ECHL appearances with Adirondack and Idaho this year. He has stopped 86 of 89 shots faced as a Steelhead.
This was Idaho’s first visit to North Charleston Coliseum since January 2013. The win reduced Idaho’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot to seven points, either gained by Idaho or lost by the Oilers.
The Steelheads and Stingrays meet again on Friday night at North Charleston Coliseum, with puck-drop scheduled for 5:05 p.m. MT.
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