BOISE, ID — Max French netted the only goal of the shootout on Saturday night at CenturyLink Arena, as the Idaho Steelheads (30-16-6) earned their fifth win of the six-game super-series with the Colorado Eagles (32-13-6), a 5-4 final in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,223. The Steelheads have won seven of their last nine and are now four points back of the top spot in the Mountain Division.
French scored in the fourth round of the shootout with a wrist shot past the blocker of Joe Cannata. Philippe Desrosiers stopped all four shootout attempts he saw for his 20th victory of the season, and his fourth in the breakaway contest.
The Eagles erased a 4-2 deficit with less than three minutes remaining to force overtime. Joey Ratelle scored his 15th goal of the season from between the circles at 17:18 to make it 4-3, and 1:09 later Ryan Olsen netted his first as an Eagle and ninth of the season to tie the game on a bouncing puck at the side of the net.
Idaho nearly ended the game in overtime when Joe Faust was alone in front of the Eagles net in the final seconds. Faust deked to the backhand for a shot that hit off of teammate Steve McParland before bouncing wide of the net as time expired.
Colorado took a 1-0 lead at 2:47 of the first period when Gabriel Verpaelst’s drive from the right point beat Desrosiers for his sixth goal of the season. The Steelheads answered back at 7:42 when a bouncing puck in the neutral zone skipped past Verpaelst for Connor Chatham to skate in for his tenth goal of the year.
The Eagles regained the lead at 2:04 of the second period on a scramble in front of the Idaho net, with Emil Romig finding the loose puck for his ninth goal of the season to snap an eleven-game scoring drought.
Idaho tied the game again on a 3-on-2 rush, as Chatham slid a pass to the slot for AJ White to score his ninth of the year at 3:17 of the second. Aaron Harstad gave Idaho its first lead at 10:38 of the second on another 3-on-2, with Harstad burying the rebound of a Brady Brassart shot for his second goal of the year. Harstad was a plus-4 on the night.
Steve McParland scored his team-leading 23rd goal of the season on a 2-on-1 rush to give the Steelheads a 4-2 lead at 3:12 of the third period. McParland finishes the season-series with eight goals and 14 points against the Eagles.
Saturday was the final regular-season meeting between the Steelheads and Eagles. Colroado moves to the American Hockey League next season. The Steelheads finished with an all-time record of 38-20-6 against Colorado.
Idaho earned its 13th sell-out crowd in 28 home games this season, and their sixth in the last seven home games. The Steelheads head out on a six-game road trip through Utah, Rapid City, and Wichita.
The Steelheads and Utah Grizzlies meet at Maverik Center on Monday afternoon, with puck-drop scheduled for 1:30 p.m. MT.
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