BOISE, ID – The Idaho Steelheads (32-17-7) went back and forth with the Utah Grizzlies (33-16-9) but came away with the extra point in a 4-3 shootout win on Wednesday night from CenturyLink Arena in front of 5,128 fans, the 10th-straight sellout and overall the 16th sellout of the season. The Steelheads also extended their home win streak to six straight games.
The Steelheads struck early in the first period at 3:13 thanks to a shifty pass by captain A.J. White to open forward Brett Supinski low in the right circle for a shot through the legs and the 1-0 lead. Supinski extended his point streak to eight-straight games and also owns a team-best four-game goal streak.
The see-saw effect began at 8:34 of the second period thanks to Grizzlies forward Ryan Wagner on a shot off the crossbar to tie the game, 1-1. The Steelheads forecheck and offensive persistence paid off when White drew two players on a rush and flipped a shot off the goaltender’s pad to find forward Will Merchant as the trailer for a one-time snap shot from the right circle to take the one-goal edge, 2-1.
The Grizzlies answered back thanks to a breakaway by forward Mitch Maxwell at 5:43, tying the game at 2-2. A strong shift led to a payoff for the Steelheads at 13:46, and forward Colby McAuley snuck behind the defense for a net-front re-direction following the entire shift pressing in the offensive end for the 3-2 edge. However, with the netminder pulled, Wagner found a rebound open in the right circle at 18:29 to force overtime, 3-3.
After an overtime dominated by the Steelheads, White (1st Round) and Supinski (2nd Round) netted the only goals of the shootout with a five-hole and backhanded tally, respectively, to seal off the 4-3 shootout win.
Steelheads goaltender Colton Point (6-8-2) halted 35 of 38 shots in the win with both stopped in the shootout, while Grizzlies netminder Martin Ouellette (22-10-3) stopped 32 of 35 shots in the loss while allowing both attempts in the shootout.
The Steelheads and Grizzlies continue Rivalry Week this Friday, February 28th at 7:10 p.m. from CenturyLink Arena.
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