Boise, ID (2/10/18)— The Idaho Steelheads (28-15-6) scored three goals in the second period and Philippe Desrosiers stopped 26 shots en route to a 3-1 win over the Colorado Eagles (31-12-5) on Saturday night at Budweiser Events Center, securing a sweep of the three-game series. Idaho has won five of its last six and moved within five points of Colorado for the top spot in the Mountain Division, with the teams meeting for three more games in Boise next week.
The Steelheads earned their first three-game sweep in Loveland since October of 2012, winning their last-ever regular season game at Budweiser Events Center.
Henrik Samuelsson notched a three-point night with a goal and two assists, opening the scoring at 5:52 of the second period. Will Merchant entered the zone on a 3-on-2 rush , dropping a pass to Samuelsson in the high slot for a wrist shot past Lukas Hafner and Samuelsson’s 16th goal of the season.
At 10:18 of the second, Idaho struck again with Jefferson Dahl wiring his 19th goal of the season on a shot from the left circle to give the Steelheads a 2-0 lead. With two points on the night, Jefferson Dahl has 199 points in his Steelheads career, ranked third on the Steelheads’ all-time ECHL scoring list.
Justin Parizek would extend the Steelheads’ lead with his 21st goal of the season at 18:27 of the second period. Colorado’s Ryan Harrison was called for tripping Desrosiers and shortly after Hafner was whistled for high-sticking. Parizek cashed in on the 5-on-3 power play, beating Hafner from the top of the left circle with a high wrist shot.
Drayson Bowman would score Colorado’s only goal with seven seconds left in the second period, redirecting a shot from his brother Collin Bowman for his 14th goal of the year.
Desrosiers cemented his 18th win of the season with eleven saves on eleven shots in the third period.
Samuelsson has two goals and ten points in his last eight games.
The Eagles are winless in their last six games (0-5-1), their longest winless streak of the season.
The Steelheads and Eagles move to CenturyLink Arena on Wednesday night, with puck-drop scheduled for 7:10pm MT. The game is available on 1350AM KTIK and seen on Cable One and ECHLTV.
With Idaho Steelheads release
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