Boise, ID (2/2/18)— Will Merchant’s rebound goal with 3:26 left in the third period was the game-winner for the Idaho Steelheads (25-14-6), as they earned their second straight win with a 4-3 victory over the Utah Grizzlies (16-20-10) on Friday night at CenturyLink Arena.
The Steelheads played in front of their tenth sell-out crowd in 24 home games this season, with 5,149 fans in attendance.
Merchant’s eleventh goal of the season came just 3:06 after Cliff Watson had tied the game for Utah at 3-3, scoring his ninth goal of the season on a shot from the left circle. Jefferson Dahl fed Merchant in the high slot for a shot that was blocked, the rebound rolling to the low slot. Merchant pounced on the puck again and stuffed it against the right pad of Utah goaltender Angus Redmond. On the third whack, the puck popped up and over Redmond for a 4-3 Idaho lead.
The Grizzlies would pull their goaltender for the extra skater, but Ryan Faragher would close out the win for the Steelheads with 25 saves.
Utah jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Alex Dostie, playing his first game with Utah after being sent down from AHL San Diego, scored his first ECHL goal when a deflected pass on the Grizzlies power play came to him at the top of the Idaho crease at 9:48 of the first period. At 16:08, Dostie set up another goal, feeding Mitch Hults on a 2-on-1 break for Hults’ second goal of the season.
The Steelheads would get on the board before the first intermission, with Brady Brassart burying a Justin Parizek feed from behind the net at 18:45 for his 13th goal of the season. Brassart has two goals and five points in four games since returning from AHL Utica.
At 1:01 of the second period, Jefferson Dahl tied the game with his 18th goal of the season. On the power play, a puck rimmed around the glass hit a stanchion and stopped behind the Utah net. Cole Ully threw it in front for Dahl, who notched a goal and two assists in his first game back from a two-game suspension.
Ully gave the Steelheads a 3-2 lead at 15:17, finishing a give-and-go with Justin Parizek at the bottom of the left circle for his seventh goal of the year, and second in as many games. Parizek finished with two assists.
Chris Martenet earned an assist and was a plus-3 for Idaho.
The Steelheads are 6-3-2 this season in eleven meetings with the Grizzlies. They are ten points back of first place Colorado, but hold a three-point advantage for second place in the Mountain Division.
Idaho will honor Steelheads legend Scott Burt on Saturday night when his number 12 is retired, the fourth jersey number retired in the organization’s history. Burt ranks second all-time in Steelheads’ history in games played, and he ranks third in goals and points.
The Steelheads look to sweep the series on Saturday at CenturyLink Arena in the series finale against the Grizzlies. Puck-drop is scheduled for 7:10pm MT with the game available on 1350AM KTIK and seen on Cable One and ECHLTV.
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