BOISE, Idaho – In a game that featured 148 penalty minutes, six fighting majors, and three game misconducts, the Steelheads (9-5-4) rode their power play to a 5-1 win over the Allen Americans (10-6-3) on Saturday night in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,147 fans at CenturyLink Arena.
Henrik Samuelsson and Jefferson Dahl both logged three-point nights, with Samuelsson netting two power play goals and Dahl recording three assists. Alex Dahl capped the scoring with his first professional goal.
With the Steelheads already ahead 3-1, Will Merchant extended the lead with his fourth goal of the season on a left-wing wrist shot with 11:05 left in the game. Immediately following the goal, Allen’s Jonathan Lessard went after Samuelsson, and Chris Martenet dove in to interfere. With Lessard and Martenet on the ground, Merchant got tangled with Miles Liberati and Allen goaltender Stephon Williams began exchanging punches with Jefferson Dahl in a full line brawl that also drew Philippe Desrosiers from his crease.
The altercation resulted in Liberati, Lessard, Williams, and Josh Thrower being removed from the game, along with Samuelsson and Martenet for Idaho. Martenet earned his first pro assist and his first two fighting majors during the game.
Alex Dahl made it 5-1 at 11:44 of the third period when he poked in the rebound of an AJ White shot from the slot for a power play goal.
The Steelheads’ power play converted for four goals, matching a season-high. Aaron Harstad struck first at 5:15 of the first period, sneaking down from the right point to finish a Samuelsson feed in front for his first goal of the season.
Eric Roy scored for the Americans at 12:25 of the first to tie the game. Samuelsson would answer on another power play just 49 seconds later, pulling the puck from behind the goal line to wrap it short-side on Williams. In the second period, Samuelsson would score again on the power play with a one-timer from the left circle on a 5-on-3 power play, his first two-goal game of the season and his eighth goal of the year.
Desrosiers made 25 saves in the win to improve to 7-1-2 on the season. He stopped two shorthanded breaks at the end of the second period, one on Bryan Moore and another on Daniel Leavens.
The win pulled Idaho back to within one point of third-place Allen in the Mountain Division standings.
The Steelheads continue their home stand on Wednesday night with their first meeting of the season with the Tulsa Oilers at CenturyLink Arena. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:10pm MT, with the game available on 1350AM KTIK, Cable One, and on ECHLTV.
With Idaho Steelheads release